Community: Charity
We are now coming towards the end of our three-year partnerships with the three charities selected for support by our staff - A Lust for Life, Children’s Health Foundation and Women’s Aid. We commenced these partnerships in January 2023 following a selection process where we surveyed all our people. Over the past year, we have supported each of the charities through staff fundraising, firm donations, volunteering and pro bono support as required and will continue these three partnerships until the end of 2025.
STAFF FUNDRAISING
Over the past 12 months, we have concentrated on a number of individual key fundraising events for each of our charity partners during the year. These events engaged our staff in fun, team building exercises that brought our people together in competitive environments to raise much needed funds for the charities. Over the course of FY24/25, we are pleased to report that our staff raised well over €23,000 in total for A Lust for Life, Children’s Health Foundation and Women’s Aid. The first fundraising event took place in September 2024 for A Lust for Life and our staff came together in teams to perform ‘simple’ challenges against the clock, like the ITV show, ‘The Cube’. A combination of good balance, some good concentration skills, and a willingness to have some fun raised just under €7,000 for the charity. In December our Gingerbread House Making Competition provided some real festive fun in aid of Children’s Health Foundation (CHF). While there were undoubtedly some beautiful creations, there were also some humorous moments as structural plans came undone! We were delighted to raise €9,785 for CHF with this event. In March 2025, we linked celebrations of International Women's Day with a staff fundraiser for Women’s Aid. Once again, we called on the very competitive nature of our people for forming teams who endeavoured to build ‘Towers of Strength’, using the very simple components of spaghetti and marshmallows! This third and final charity fundraiser, organised by our staff, also raised just under €7,000.
raised for A Lust for Life
raised for Childrens Health Foundation
raised for Women's Aid
CLICK BELOW TO FIND OUT WHAT OUR CHARITY PARTNERS SAY:
Legacy Charity Partners
In addition to our three-year charity partnerships, the firm also has some longer-term relationships with other charities for legacy reasons. These include Boardmatch, Rethink Ireland, educational partners and the Law Society’s annual Calcutta Run and associated events.
BOARDMATCH
Boardmatch is the only Irish charity that specialises in not-for-profit board recruitment. It was founded by one of the firm’s former partners, Mary Redmond, RIP. Over the past year our staff have engaged in specialist trustee/board director training run by Boardmatch and many have also engaged with Boardmatch on board positions of interest.
“As Boardmatch celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2025, we are proud to reflect on our long-standing partnership with Arthur Cox. Over the past year, and throughout our broader collaboration, Arthur Cox’s continued support has enabled us to expand our services and invest in the key resources needed to deliver robust and flexible governance solutions for charities and not-for-profit organisations across Ireland. In 2025, we recorded a 14% increase in training attendance and a 12% rise in board appointments, with gender balance consistently represented across board placements. Among our 482 board appointments this year, candidates ranged in age from 22 to 79, with the highest proportion of appointments in the 35–44 age group. Given that the average age of Irish charity board members is approximately 58, these figures demonstrate the tangible impact of our independent charity board recruitment service in promoting age diversity and generational renewal within the sector.
Arthur Cox continues to lead by example. Six of its employees took part in our Charity Trustee Training Programme in the past year, and we were pleased to deliver a dedicated webinar on the benefits of board volunteering, kindly introduced by Sarah McCague, who shared insights from her own experience in the sector. In 2024, our Charity Speed Dating events expanded to Cork and Dublin, resulting in over 60 successful board placements. April 2025 also marked the completion of the third year of our Future Leaders Programme, run in collaboration with The Leadership Academy. This initiative focuses on empowering candidates from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue charity board opportunities in the Community & Voluntary sector. To date, the programme has trained 65 individuals and successfully placed over 50 on boards, providing valuable governance experience and helping to diversify leadership across the sector. We look forward to marking our 20th anniversary later this year and celebrating this milestone with Arthur Cox, a committed and valued partner in strengthening Ireland’s not-for-profit governance landscape.”
Eva Gurn, Chief Executive Officer, Boardmatch
RETHINK IRELAND
The firm is pleased to continue its support of Rethink Ireland as it partners with the most innovative non-profit organisations working in communities across the country. Rethink Ireland does this by partnering with the Irish Government, as well as with companies, families, individuals, and foundations who understand that innovative thinking, combined with focused action, is needed. Together with their partners, Rethink Ireland creates funds with the objective of identifying and backing social innovations that address our most critical social and environmental issues. Arthur Cox staff support Rethink Ireland through various activities, including reviewing funding applications, participating on interview panels and providing expertise and advice.
"Arthur Cox has been a valued partner of Rethink Ireland across the years, providing invaluable assistance to our team. They support us in identifying and backing the best social innovations right across the country. We are grateful for our ongoing collaboration and look forward to making even more impact together in the years to come."
Deirdre Mortell, CEO of Rethink Ireland
CALCUTTA RUN 2025
Once again in 2025 we were proud to support the Law Society’s Calcutta Run and its associated events. As this is a key fundraiser organised by the legal sector, we were pleased to have so many participants from the firm involved in the various activities: golf, tennis, tag rugby and running.
