Making business and charity partnerships successful
EMILY WADDELL, head of marketing at TAYLOR WALTON, says: Youth Talk is a pioneering community charity providing free, confidential counselling for 13- to 25-year-olds in the St Albans area. Delivered by experienced professionals, the service offers a safe and non-judgmental space for young people to talk about whatever is on their minds.
Taylor Walton Solicitors is a multi-service law firm with offices in St Albans, Harpenden and Luton. Clients include individuals, families, corporations and public and private sector organisations.
Collaborations between businesses and charities are a vital part of a charity's fundraising toolbox, but how do you make them successful and meaningful to all involved?
Our partnership with Youth Talk began in April 2025. So far, we have raised nearly £14,000 for the charity. Events have included an Easter Egg Hunt around the city searching for golden eggs – each one filled with a fact and supported by a local business who offered prizes to the finders of the eggs – and a 22-mile charity walk undertaken by our staff along the South Downs.
We have also had netball matches, golf days, lunches which also supported independent restaurants, a women's menopause awareness and networking evening, and a quiz night. Plus a Christmas sale where local independent sellers joined the Taylor Walton team at their office to sell their products.
Awareness campaign
In October we and Youth Talk initiated a successful week-long awareness campaign across St Albans, inspiring 40 local businesses and thousands of residents to come together in support of young people's mental health in the city.
The campaign ran from 6-12 October and was organised by our marketing team on behalf of the charity. The three-strong team arranged for 40 shops and businesses across St Albans to proudly display Youth Talk T-shirts in their windows along with a QR code to learn more about the charity. This visual show of solidarity was designed to help break the stigma surrounding youth mental health and to highlight the vital support services available locally.
The campaign also coincided with World Mental Health Day (10 October), and it connected with another major event in the city (12 October), organised by the charity, the Great St Albans Challenge. This annual event sees local people (this year's theme seeing many dressed up as superheroes) take part in a GPS treasure hunt around the city centre.
Our firm has always had a strong sense of community. We're proud of being approachable, supportive and genuinely invested in the places where we live and work. Our people naturally enjoy getting involved in charity and community activities – it's part of who we are.
Nurturing talent and supporting people at every stage of their journey is also central to our ethos, so partnering with Youth Talk felt like a perfect fit. It's an opportunity to invest in the next generation in a meaningful way, and to make a difference locally – not just professionally, but personally too.
Genuine team spirit
The partnership has also allowed us to be creative. We've organised everything from bake sales to volunteering and awareness campaigns, right through to bigger challenges like a 22-mile charity walk. The beauty of it is that everyone can take part in a way that suits them – there's a genuine sense of team spirit across the firm.
I'm fortunate to have the full support of our partners and colleagues who share the same belief in giving back. We recognise that people often come to solicitors during difficult or stressful times in their lives, so it's important to us that we're also seen out in the community in a more positive and uplifting way. This partnership helps us show the human side of our firm – our teams care deeply about the city – and this is one of the ways we can contribute to its future.
Given the level of engagement across the firm and the success we've achieved in raising both awareness and funds for Youth Talk, we've decided to extend what was originally planned as a one-year partnership for a further year. It's now become a core element of our marketing and community strategy.
By viewing it as a strategic, long term opportunity, we're able to invest more time, creativity, and energy into making a genuine impact. We have a clear plan for the year ahead, and the partnership is now truly embedded in who we are as a firm.
DAVID BARKER, chief executive of YOUTH TALK, says: Corporate partnerships are absolutely vital to Youth Talk. They don't just provide funding — they help amplify our voice, connect us with new audiences, and open doors that we couldn't reach alone. In a small charity like ours, the impact of one strong partnership can be transformational.
What's made the work with Taylor Walton so successful is that we've had genuine champions on both sides. Within the firm, Emily and her team have led the charge brilliantly — bringing energy, creativity, and a real belief in our cause. That kind of internal leadership is what energises people and keeps momentum alive.
Seeing the tangible difference
From our side, our fundraising and partnerships manager works hard to steward these relationships really well. We want every partner to feel that they're our most important partner — to see the tangible difference they're helping to make and to feel proud of the role they're playing in changing and saving young people's lives locally.
When you have that combination — a brilliant corporate champion who rallies their team and a charity which invests in nurturing the relationship — that's when partnerships truly take off. It stops being just fundraising and becomes something bigger: a shared movement for good in our community.
I'm absolutely delighted Taylor Walton have decided to extend the campaign into 2026/27 In my experience by the end of year one you are just getting to know each other so when it runs over two or more years that's when things really start to fly.
Volunteer-led fundraising is vital to our success, but partners have to understand and be willing to take on and share some of the load, especially when it involves a smaller charity. Often there can be a lot of enthusiasm at first but then it can wane when they realise the work involved to deliver something of value.
Added value
It hasn't been like that with Taylor Walton; they've not only come up with amazing ideas but delivered on them with such energy and success. They've really added value at every step of the way which has been inspiring to see.
Together, Taylor Walton and Youth Talk have shown what's possible when a business and a charity share purpose, creativity and heart. Emily and the team have been a delight to work alongside and understand that success comes when businesses are prepared to invest time and resource into the partnership. They have raised thousands of pounds, helped spark vital conversations, and strengthened a sense of community pride across St Albans.
It's proof that when businesses and charity come together with determination, compassion and strategic purpose, they can make a lasting difference. The results so far have been incredible — and we are already super excited about what we can achieve together in the coming year!
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