The Battens Charitable Trust was founded in 1985. In the last decade, we have donated approximately £500,000 and counting. Beneficiaries have been as diverse as local schools, youth organisations, hospitals and hospices, local foodbanks, wildlife organisations, disability groups and the arts.
We recognise that we have a commitment to minimise the impact that business has on the environment.
This commitment involves our understanding of the responsibility for the resources we use and the waste we produce. Wherever possible we incorporate energy efficiency and recycling practices across our business.
At Battens Solicitors, we encourage and support colleagues who wish to volunteer their services to the community or to good causes in the South West including the Battens Charitable Trust.
The team at Battens Solicitors also understands access to education in a rural environment can be more difficult. This is why we currently have 7 trainee solicitors with another 6 who are on the Solicitor Apprenticeship programme. An essential part of being accepted onto one of the programmes is to have a connection to the local area.
We are also proud to be one of the few law firms that haven’t cut their legal aid support. Our Family Department tends to see some of the most hard-hitting files that occur within the area, and during 2023 we evidenced approximately 280 legal aid files with approximately 170 non-legal files opened in the same department.
At Battens, we have recently introduced a Green Committee. The committee is made up of staff members that meet regularly who have a keen interest in sustainability and the environment. They are keen to help make our offices run sustainably and to help futureproof the environment and planet. Battens Solicitors has joined the Legal Sustainability Alliance, who work with us on our journey to managing our carbon emissions and being a more sustainable law firm.
We believe in the power of collaborating with our local community. It fills us with pride to establish partnerships with fellow local businesses, cultivating a network of shared assistance and expansion. Our collaboration efforts are diverse in nature, all with the common goal of enhancing our local community and contributing to a dynamic business environment.
Due to these continued efforts, Battens Solicitors has been recognised and awarded a Somerset Business Award in 2024 for the Investing in Somerset category.
We will continue to support initiatives like these and we very much hope that they will help some of the most vulnerable in our region to thrive, especially when times are tough and resources are scarce.
