7 February 2012

Clifford Chance Foundation

Overview

Complementing our local level community and pro bono activity is the Clifford Chance Foundation, set up in 2008 to provide a focused and co-ordinated approach to our charitable giving which was more closely aligned with our three accesses. So far, nearly £2.5 million has been spent or committed by the Foundation.

Two major commitments currently form the backbone of the Foundation's work: we are providing substantial support for an educational initiative in India being run by Save the Children and we are helping develop the international reach of the French legal NGO Avocats sans Frontières.

But many smaller charitable concerns around the world also receive funding from the Foundation. To date, among other things, we've help build schools in Africa and China, provided mobile libraries in Vietnam and supplied free bus travel to students in rural Thailand; we've given legal assistance to refugees, sponsored pro bono law services and donated legal books to African universities; and we've used the Foundation to synchronise and maximise our engagement with microfinance, particularly through an involvement with the Grameen Foundation.

In April 2010, Clifford Chance launched its first Access to Justice Award, comprising a donation of £50,000 from the Clifford Chance Foundation and 500 hours of pro bono/volunteering work to a charitable organisation dedicated to preserving or securing the basic necessities of life for individuals, groups or communities in need.