Joe Burns
Philanthropy & community

The measure of an organisation is the difference it makes.Not the size of its balance sheet.

Charitable work is not an afterthought or a PR exercise. It is a core part of who we are — and the majority of the consulting and legal work we do for registered charities is given away.

Community work
The commitment

The majority of our consulting and legal work for registered charities is free of charge.

Governance help, contract questions, policies, a second opinion before a big decision — if you run a charity, ask us first. It is not an afterthought or a PR exercise. It is a core part of who we are.

If a piece of work falls outside that commitment, we will tell you clearly, in writing, before it begins.

Where the focus goes

Three places, deliberately.

Cedar Hall · Governance

01

Education & school governance

Effective governance is the foundation of a great school. I work with governing bodies to build the structures, processes and culture that let school leaders thrive — governance reviews, trustee development, policy frameworks and strategic planning.

I practise what I preach: I serve as a governor of Cedar Hall, a school for children with moderate learning difficulties. It is the same work the group's divisions do commercially — budgets, policies, holding leadership to account — applied where it matters most, to a school where every decision the board makes has a child attached to it.

  • Governance reviews and scheme of delegation
  • Trustee and governor development
  • Policy frameworks that get used, not filed
  • Multi-academy trust formation and due diligence
Mental health partnerships

02

Mental health

Mental health is one of the defining challenges of our time. We partner with charities dedicated to awareness, early intervention and long-term support — contributing governance, strategy and fundraising expertise to organisations doing vital work in communities across the country.

What those organisations usually need is not another consultant's report. It is a board that knows what it is accountable for, policies that survive a monitoring visit, and someone who will read the funding agreement properly before it is signed.

  • Board development through rapid growth
  • Funding agreements reviewed line by line
  • Safeguarding, conflicts and financial controls
  • Fundraising strategy and governance
Community provision

03

Community & rural life

Some of the best work in the country is done by committees of volunteers with a constitution last touched in the 1970s. We incorporate clubs and community groups properly, document the leases and ground they have used on a handshake for decades, and put in place the policies funders ask for.

Where the work touches agriculture and rural communities, that is home ground. Food initiatives, young people into work, village halls, sports clubs — the organisations with the least time to spare for the paperwork that unlocks their funding.

  • Community interest companies and constitutions
  • Leases, land and property transfers
  • Policies written to be used by volunteers
  • Grant readiness and funder compliance
Recent work, anonymised

The work behind the commitment.

Names and identifying details are changed throughout. Client and charity confidentiality is respected — the detail is real, the people are not.

Case one

Education

Forming a multi academy trust from four schools

The challenge

Four primary schools — two rural, two coastal — each with its own governing body, its own finances and land held four different ways, needed a governance structure all four could genuinely sign up to, against a fixed funding date.

What we did

We ran the due diligence across all four, distilled it into one plain-English report each board could debate properly, drafted the articles and scheme of delegation around the schools' real differences, and chaired the awkward conversations before they became objections.

The outcome

The trust was approved and opened on the intended date, every governing body still speaking to the others. It returned to us when a fifth school joined.

Case two

Community sport

A ninety-year-old club rebuilt on solid ground

The challenge

A community sports club had an unincorporated structure, a constitution from the 1970s and a ground held on an old lease too vague to support any funding application — with committee members carrying personal risk without realising it.

What we did

We incorporated the club as a community interest company, documented a proper lease, and put safeguarding, expenses and volunteer policies in place — each written to be used by a committee of volunteers, not filed above their heads.

The outcome

The club secured its first significant grant within a year and the pavilion is built. The committee now sends new members to us for a governance briefing as routine.

Case three

Mental health

Growing a charity without losing itself

The challenge

A small mental health charity won a contract that tripled its delivery overnight. The funding agreement alone was longer than its entire policy folder, and decisions were still being made in the kitchen.

What we did

We reviewed the agreement line by line, flagged the reporting obligations the board had glossed over, ran a governance review that produced six changes the board would actually make, and sat with them through how decision-making had to change at the new scale.

The outcome

The contract was delivered in full and the first monitoring visit passed with no corrective actions. The coordinator now has a deputy.

How the choices are made

A modest amount,
where it counts.

We support organisations where a modest amount of money or time makes a measurable difference, and where we can stay involved rather than simply writing a cheque.

We would rather build long relationships with a small number of organisations than spread support thinly.

  • Registered charities and community interest companies
  • Mental health and wellbeing organisations
  • Education and school-based projects
  • Local community provision and food initiatives
  • Organisations supporting young people into work
  • Charitable work connected to agriculture and rural communities

Applications are read by me, not a committee, and you will get a straight answer either way. Alongside funding we offer governance and structure advice, help with the legal and regulatory questions charities face, and introductions where they are genuinely useful.

Tell me what you're trying to do