BGF Foundation and Fieldfisher LLP combine support for Access Sport

The BGF Foundation supports charities working with disadvantaged young people, with BGF employees regularly volunteering their time and expertise to help drive impact for charity partners, alongside grant funding from the Foundation.

The Foundation works with charities to understand their challenges, facilitating support from our team that’s practical, proportionate and responsive. This is the most effective way to deliver skills-based volunteering: not a menu of offers or a one-off intervention, but a transparent partnership, where businesses can respond to a charity’s specific requirements, with the right expertise, at the right time.

The BGF Foundation’s ongoing work with partner Access Sport highlights what’s possible when volunteering is designed around a charity’s evolving needs.

Access Sport supports disadvantaged and disabled children and young people to access the benefits of inclusive community sport. As it scales its supporter and beneficiary base, Access Sport is working to strengthen the systems and processes behind this growth, including its communications and engagement activity.

The team wanted to ensure that they continue to deliver communications confidently, consistently and in line with best practice. To support this, the BGF Foundation connected them with BGF Marketing Manager Lucy Wilson for a focused consultation.

The session included practical reflections on audience segmentation, permissions and engagement, and how to build repeatable processes that don’t add unnecessary burden. Importantly, it recognised the realities many charities face, where capacity is tight and specialist roles are limited, but expectations and responsibilities remain high.

With Lucy’s input, Access Sport completed a holistic review of its digital systems and tools, and began shaping a clear set of actions to strengthen its approach to audience engagement. A follow-up conversation is planned with the team to sense-check next steps, reflecting a commitment to continued support as projects develop, not just one-off conversations.

Lucy Wilson, Marketing Manager at BGF, said: “Access Sport’s team are doing vital work to create more inclusive opportunities for young people in sport, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to support them in any way that I can. From a marketing perspective, they’re facing the same challenges and growing pains that many SMEs face as they scale. I was able to share my own learnings and practical guidance, and I’m looking forward to continuing the conversation and offering further support, as their needs evolve.”

This followed the independent digital review that BGF IT Manager Adam Cox carried out for Access Sport (an exercise that immediately helped the charity free up budget and gain confidence around their IT costs).

For Access Sport, this work on digital readiness sits alongside the specialist legal, compliance and business services support being provided by Fieldfisher LLP. Fieldfisher is a European law firm with market-leading practices, including technology and financial services, and a strong commitment to responsible business and ESG.

Fieldfisher’s pro bono and community impact team, Just Purpose, previously came together with the BGF Foundation, to share insights on what good skills-based support looks like in practice. They discussed the value of needs-led volunteering, the importance of trust and clarity, and the impact pro bono work can have in supporting a charity’s growth.

Fieldfisher’s partnership with Access Sport sits at the heart of the firm’s Just Purpose strategy, with a shared commitment to removing barriers faced by disabled young people and advocating for the rights of children. Through Fieldfisher’s One Firm Action initiative, colleagues across the firm have rallied behind Access Sport – not only raising funds, but sharing their skills and time through legal and business-related projects. IT and HR teams have delivered learning and development sessions, while lawyers have provided pro bono guidance to review and enhance key organisational policies.

Millie Hawes, Head of Just Purpose at Fieldfisher, said: “Skilled volunteering like this plays a vital role in strengthening civil society, enabling organisations to access specialist expertise that builds resilience, boosts impact and drives long lasting change.”

The behind-the-scenes work of strengthening systems, governance and processes is often what enables charities to scale safely and amplify long-term impact.

Together, BGF and Fieldfisher’s support to Access Sport reflects an approach that many charities say they need more of:

• Practical, needs-led expertise (rather than what’s easiest for businesses to offer)
• Momentum without extra headcount or budget, through practical actions that are achievable straight away
• Ongoing partnership, helping to embed learning and adapt as plans develop (and reducing gaps or duplication that can occur when multiple partners are involved)

Tom Dixon, Fundraising & Communications Director at Access Sport, said: “With BGF and Fieldfisher’s recent support, Access Sport have been able to make tangible steps forward in our digital readiness and in our approach to marketing. Both organisation’s expertise are invaluable to us, and we really appreciate the effort, energy and enthusiasm that has gone into these projects.

“With this extra capacity we have been able to improve our processes and become more efficient. This ultimately translates into us being in a better position to positively impact thousands of young lives across the country – so a huge thank you to all involved.”

Get involved

If your business is interested in providing skills-based support, but you’re not sure how to start, contact the BGF Foundation team at info@bgffoundation.org.uk