BTO Cares
BTO organises and gets involved in a range of ESG initiatives. Activities include volunteering with various organisations, offering pro bono legal advice and providing free mentoring and training.
Office Bake Sale
On 26-27th April 2023, the BTO Glasgow office held a two-day bake sale and managed to raise £501.85, all going to local foodbanks in partnership with our charity of the year The Trussell Trust. A hearty thanks to our colleagues who took the time to bake some amazing cakes and those who made generous donations.
London Marathon 2023
On 23rd April 2023, our very own Emelia Conner successfully completed the London Marathon and raised over £3000 for RNLI - a cause close to her family's heart. A massive congratulations for such an incredible impressive physical feat and her efforts raising an incredible amount.
Easter collection
On Easter Friday, our team in the Edinburgh office contributed donated a lovely Easter egg and chocolates collection all going to a local foodbank in support of The Trussell Trust.
Educational Foundation - New College Lanarkshire
On 4th April 2023, Fraser Hopkins and Laura Salmond attended the fantastic launch event for a new educational foundation set up by our client New College Lanarkshire. BTO sponsors this venture as they it provides a range of support and benefits to students attending the college and their families. More than £18,000 was raised after an evening of performances from the College's musical theatre and performance students.
The Trussell Trust
#TeamBTO continues to collect donations for our nominated charity of 2023, The Trussell Trust. Full boxes have been recently collected from our offices and delivered to local foodbanks by representatives of BTO’s ESG Group - Jamie Stewart and Aaron Kane.
Lex Factor 2023
On 16 March 2023, BTO's fabulous 9-piece funk band 'The Paroling Stones' put on a stellar performance at the inaugural Lex Factor showcase at the O2 Academy in Edinburgh. They shared the stage with bands from other firms and helped raise money for Edinburgh Children's Hospital Charity, Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity, The Archie Foundation and The Great North Children’s Hospital Foundation, as well as The Trussell Trust.
LandAid SleepOut 2023
On 2 March 2023, five members of BTO's Property team (Peter Graham, Mark Colquhoun, Lucy Ferguson, Charlie Eadie and Carly Mills) participated in the LandAid Sleepout 2023 and slept overnight on cardboard boxes in the Buchanan Galleries Glasgow car park. This was to raise awareness and funds for LandAid which delivers life-changing services for young people experiencing homelessness.
Sponsored Charity 2023
Every year, BTO supports a charity and the BTO team aims to raise funds in a variety of ways, such as bake sales, raffles and participation in sporting fundraising activities. BTO's charity for 2023 will be announced soon.
Foodbanks 2023
We have put collection boxes for local charities in each of our office kitchens. The first batch of donations will be deliverd to three foodbanks local to our offices in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Helensburgh, namely Glasgow SE Foodbank, Edinburgh Food Project and Helensburgh & Lomond Foodbank.
Sponsored Charity 2020 - 2022
BTO’s nominated charity from 2020 – 2022 was Calum’s Cabin:
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In January 2006, Calum was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour. Whilst Calum was alive, he and his family started to raise funds to purchase Calum’s caravan to allow families dealing with a child with cancer to visit Bute. Calum’s family also worked hard to collect funds after he passed and raised enough to build “Calum’s Cabin” - a luxury countryside retreat, where irreplaceable memories are made. A total of £8142.16 was raised by BTO personnel for this Scottish charity.
MOVE-ember 2022
We are all proud of our MOVE-ember team for smashing its fundraising target for Calum’s Cabin by cycling, swimming (and some not shaving!) throughout November 2022. In total, a distance of 2154.85km was travelled. That’s 500km more than originally intended. Also, an amazing £1301 was raised for this special charity which supports children and families suffering from the effects of cancer. Read the full story here.
Hallowe’en Firewalk
In October 2022, four members of the BTO team completed a Hallowe’en challenge to walk across fire and raised £1,285.50 for Epilepsy Scotland.
BTO's Cyrenians Volunteering Experience
In June 2022, a team of BTO volunteers spent a morning assisting at the Cyrenians’ depot in Leith - a charity which tackles the causes and consequences of homelessness.
Shelagh Fairbairn, Debbie Reekie, Will Cole, Sandra Jurak and Farhana Apon Dinca (see photograph, left to right) had a great time picking and packing orders as part of the charity’s Good Food projects. Read the full story here.
Rugby Enthusiasts Raise Funds for The Brain Tumour Charity
In May 2022, BTO sponsored a rugby match took place in Fintry to raise funds for The Brain Tumour Charity. The Strathendrick RFC President’s Cup Match was organised by friends of BTO partner David Young, a BTO litigation partner, who suffered a seizure after a rugby tackle and was subsequently diagnosed with a brain tumour. Over £20,000 was raised. Read David's report about this special event here.
Christmas Gifts Campaign
"BTsnOw Solicitors" organised a fundraising campaign to donate toys to children spending Christmas in the Royal Hospital for Children (Schiehallion Ward, Glasgow) and Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Edinburgh). Thanks to everyone's kind generosity, the firm successfully raised £730 for Christmas gifts.
Movember - Supporting Men's Health
In November 2020, several members of BTO’s Property team joined forces to form BTO’s newest subsidiary “BTMO Solicitors LLP”. To support men’s health, our colleagues Captain Mark McEvinney, Callum McInnes, Scott Buchan, Peter Graham and Donnie Robertson selflessly neglected to shave for the whole month of “Movember” (what hardship ;-)) in order to raise funds and awareness for all the Dads, brothers, sons and friends in their lives.
Movember causes include: mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer. Movember supports work in the UK and across the world to increase men’s awareness of these health issues and works with other well established charities, including Prostate Cancer UK, to increase awareness and a willingness among men to seek help. Thanks to generous donations, our colleagues raised the grand total of £1525.
Great Scottish Run 10k
In September. 2019, fourteen brave BTO’ers ran the Glasgow 10k to raise money for our nominated charity. A massive thank you to our colleagues above who faced the elements to take part - Madelaine Cassidy, Brittany Thomas, Clare Friary, Mark Hastings, Georgia Rose, Jennifer King, Vikki Watt, Alastair Hope, Katie Anderson, Grant Barbour, Aileen Sherry, Angus Crawford, Amy Anderson and Alan Eadie.
#TeamBTO played in the Business Fives Football competition
Team BTO played in the Business Fives Glasgow Winter 2019 event at SoccerWorld to raise funds for Teens+, BTO’s nominated charity for 2019. Players were Szymon, Callum, Colin, Robert, Marc, Fraser and Grant.
Art in Healthcare and Artist Jen Bradley Help BTO Get Creative
BTO supports art workshops for residents at Hillside View Care Home, Paisley. [Read More]
BTO Teams ‘Ride the Clyde’ in GCSC Challenge
BTO participates in the Glasgow Schools’ Rowing Club Corporate Regatta on the river Clyde. [Read More]
BTO’s warriors survive Spartan “Super” Race in aid of Brightest Star
A team of 8 brave BTO solicitors took part in the Spartan super race last Sunday morning in and around kinnoul hill Perthshire - an 8 mile race with 25 different obstacles. [Read More]
BTO continues to raise funds for charity Brightest Star
BTO raffled off two Beyoncé & Jay Z tickets for Hampden Park for its chosen charity. [Read More]
BTO supports Brewin Dolphin Ochil Hills Sportive in aid of Brightest Star
On behalf of Brightest Star our BTO colleagues Mark Morton, Tim Webster and Peter Graham took part in the Brewin Dolphin Ochil Hills Sportive on Sunday 3 June 2018. [Read More]
Charity exhibition supports Scottish artists and people affected by dementia
BTO supports dementia-friendly tour at Art in Healthcare exhibition. [Read More]
What other CSR initiatives has BTO been involved in?
To give you a flavour of the good work undertaken, read our 'CSR in Action' overview below.