Professional Firms - getting involved

ProHelp involves surveyors, architects, consulting engineers, accountants, solicitors, consultants (management, property, IT), public relations, marketing and design agencies. 

ProHelp members range from small local firms to those with national and indeed global operations. Membership of ProHelp is only open to professional firms, not individuals.  See 'Who else is involved' to find out who is in the network.

• Member firms affiliate themselves to a local ProHelp group.  ProHelp currently operates in 33 city, urban and rural locations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• Each ProHelp group has a Chairman and a Manager who identifies community projects that are of real benefit to community organisations who cannot afford professional fees.
• Every project is researched and a project brief prepared which is then matched with a member firm.
• ProHelp members give their firm's time and projects should be treated no differently than an instruction from a commercial client.

One-off projects: ProHelp supports one-off projects such as a structural survey, marketing or business plan, a property valuation or accountancy advice.

Collaborative working: Some projects need support from a number of professional disciplines and provide an opportunity for ProHelp members to work collaboratively with other members.

Workshops and advice surgeries: Your firm may also like to contribute to a local advice surgery or workshop which addresses issues of concern to the community.

Choosing projects: There is no pressure to take up any assignment and the manager will work with you to identify what type of projects you would like to support based on your interest and resources.

Quality of service: The guiding principle of ProHelp is that members approach projects in the same way as they would an instruction from fee-paying client - the only difference is that the community client is not charged.

Join up:  Find your local ProHelp group and make contact with the Manager and let them know you are interested in joining ProHelp. They will tell you about the local group and how you can get involved. 

Commit: Your firm will be asked to confirm how much professional support you are committing to ProHelp for the year and the type of service you are making available.

Pick up projects: You will have access to a range of pro bono opportunities and are encouraged to share these across your firm.

Last year ProHelp members made a difference to over 1,600 community groups and voluntary organisations by providing £2.5m worth of free professional advice and support.

ProHelp provides an opportunity to put something back into the community, it can also be used to develop the skills of professional employees and for your business to make new contacts in the private and voluntary sector.  Find out how to make ProHelp work for you and the business benefits it offers.