Merger of charities through professional services support

Established 25 years ago, Wayahead works city-wide predominantly focusing on BME young people and manages 140 units of accommodation.

With a similar heritage, Priority Youth Housing is 21 years old and specialises in accommodation support for single, homeless care leavers aged 16-25 in the Bristol and Gloucestershire area. Its unique contribution to the community has been recognised with the prestigious Sieff Award. Collectively, the organisations employ 74 people.

In September 2008, Priority Youth Housing and Wayahead participated in The Prince’s Seeing is Believing programme, attending a visit focused on youth homelessness led by Tony Cherry, a partner at Beachcroft LLP and The Prince's Ambassador for the South West.

Tony Cherry championed a solution led by ProHelp – Business in the Community’s network of organisations dedicated to investing professional time and skills to organisations in need. ProHelp drew together a collaborative team of member firms to provide professional support for a proposed merger, ensuring the services, financial and operational strengths of the evolving organisation were developed quickly to continue to address the issue of homelessness in the Bristol community.

Beachcroft LLP partner, Tony Cherry, facilitated and supported the transaction between the two charities which was considered between January and June 2009. ProHelp members engaged in the proposed merger included Beachcroft LLP, Bevan Brittan LLP, Burges Salmon LLP, DWL Ltd, GSS Architecture LLP and Oakleaf Communications. The transaction work was also supported with consultancy from the London Housing Foundation.

Priority Youth Housing and Wayahead received support in the form of project management, human resources management, property, architectural, public relations and communications consultation. Solicitors Bevan Brittan and Burges Salmon carried out due diligence for both organisations and further legal support was provided by Beachcroft LLP.

Effective corporate and charity partnerships that target specific needs too often revert to cash giving. In-kind support, employee volunteering programmes and professional consultation provide resource-poor third sector organisations with skills and capacity that they would otherwise be unable to afford.

A defined scope of service provision developed with all stakeholders and clear quantitative and qualitative objectives identified by third sector organisations are essential first steps to effective partnerships. Businesses providing pro bono support for strategic organisational change to charities need to clearly link their involvement to their community investment and corporate objectives. It is essential that pro bono clients are managed and perceived as fee-generating work to avoid the depletion of quality and outcomes in service delivery.