2020 Stephen Lloyd Awards open for applications

The Awards, which seek to recognise and support early-stage charities and enterprises which serve a social purpose and are now in their 6^th year, have provided financial and pro bono backing to a wide range of organisations since their establishment in 2015.

Created to honour the memory of the late Stephen Lloyd, former Managing Partner of Bates Wells, our Awards help early-stage enterprises that have an innovative idea which deliver genuine, sustainable social change, to get off the ground. Assisting organisations such as these was a passion of Stephen’s, and the Awards have continued Stephen’s legacy by making a significant, positive impact on a wide range of social enterprises in need of professional guidance or financial support.

Last year’s winners, Breadwinners (a grassroots organisation which employs refugees to sell their own delicious bread to customers) and Inside Workout (a free fitness and wellbeing magazine specifically designed for prison inmates), received £20,000 to develop their ideas in greater depth. Both of our winners and each shortlisted entrant also benefitted from pro bono assistance offered by the Awards’ supporting partners.

Interested applicants are invited to apply here, following our stated guidelines (which can be found here), for a chance to win £2000 if shortlisted as a finalist and £20,000 if declared a winner. There is also the opportunity to benefit from pro bono support should applicants be successful in making our shortlist.

Philip Kirkpatrick, Deputy Managing Partner at Bates Wells, said:

“Each year these Awards demonstrate the creativity and resourcefulness of social entrepreneurs in resolving societal needs. Consistent with Stephen’s practice throughout his career, the Awards focus on early stage, innovative projects and provide financial and pro bono support, the latter drawn from a large network of experts in many fields. We hope to be a source of encouragement to social entrepreneurs as well as providers and co-ordinators of that support.”

Lorna Lloyd, Stephen Lloyd’s widow and now a trustee of the Bates Wells Foundation, said of the impact of the awards:

“I feel so proud and happy to see the many and varied ways in which grants from the Stephen Lloyd Awards help daring and innovative social enterprises deliver effective change. Breadwinners’ are a great example – fostering employment, language learning, business skills and of course – wonderful bread”.

Commenting on how the Awards have helped them, past winner and Project Director at Breadwinners, Martin Cosarinsky Campos said:

“We believe refugees have extraordinary potential as entrepreneurs, employees and members of local communities. We sell the best artisan organic bread to support them to build a fresh start, providing self-employment, training, and business opportunities, and to become an active part in the community. The Stephen Lloyd Awards has been instrumental in supporting 15 refugees to secure their first jobs with Breadwinners, and 40 young people seeking asylum to gain their first UK experience, training and mentoring.”

The Bates Wells Foundation coordinates this year’s Awards with the support of a range of partners, many of whom make financial contributions to the awards and who offer valuable pro bono advice. Click here to learn more about our supporters.

Want to find out more about what we’ve done in previous years? You can read further background about past winners and last year’s shortlist here and here.

Notes for Editors

About Stephen Lloyd Awards

• Stephen Lloyd Awards is an initiative of the Bates Wells Foundation, an independent, UK-registered charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) (1150321). 
• It focuses on supporting sustainable social change and has given over £250,000 in grants to ground-breaking causes since 2015.
• Winners are democratically selected by the entire community of charity and social enterprise experts who support the awards. That community includes philanthropists, social investors, lawyers, accountants, governance and management specialists and many others. Winners also have an opportunity to receive valuable pro bono support from that community.

About Bates Wells

• We’re Bates Wells, a City law firm with a difference. We strive to make a positive impact in all aspects of our work, be it through achieving legislative change around sustainability or working on landmark cases of national significance.
• Our clients are diverse – from global household names, to public bodies, to start-ups. We’re also the firm of choice for thousands of charities and social enterprises.  
• As a values-driven firm we show commitment to our clients, our people, the environment and society. We’re the first UK law firm with a B Corp certification.
• In a further sign of our commitment to become an even more sustainable firm, we recently announced that we have formally recognised the Climate Emergency and that we are taking steps to reduce our carbon emissions to zero.

About Breadwinners

• Breadwinners are a grassroots not for profit social enterprise and charity (Registration Number 1166646) supporting refugees with employment in their first UK job, and young people seeking asylum in the UK with their first volunteer work experience, by selling the highest quality organic bread on farmer’s markets across London.

Press Enquiries

• Sam Hunter, Senior press officer, +44 (0)20 7551 7906, [email protected]
  10 Queen Street Place London EC4R 1BE

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All content on this page is correct as of February 4, 2020.