
I had a previous life as a private client lawyer before joining Bates Wells in March 2018 as part of the Charity & Social Enterprise department to advise organisations and individuals on all things charitable.
My practice is wide and covers the full range of charity governance matters with a particular specialism in trusts and permanent endowment; faith-based organisations; and charity legacies as part of the Legacies team.
I acted for the trustees of a charity that was subject to a statutory inquiry and appointment of an interim manager, helping the trustees to navigate a difficult situation and on their behalf liaising and corresponding directly with the Charity Commission, interim manager, and various other regulators and stakeholders.
I advised the trustees of a church school on the oddities of a particular piece of Victorian legislation (School Sites Act 1841) that requires them to walk a careful line while they manage the move from their existing land to a new school site.
I advised a parochial church council on the terms of a permanent endowment they had received as a legacy decades ago, and successfully obtained Charity Commission consent to a section 282 resolution to release the restriction, freeing up much needed capital to allow the church to start an exciting building project.