Promoting Fairness
21st August 2024
Justice, fairness and support for disadvantaged people were the strong principles that leading Essex solicitor Christopher Holmes championed throughout his life.
He put his beliefs into action, during his 48-year career with Birkett Long Solicitors and in his vast array of voluntary roles in the community.
As well as being the driving force behind the building of Colchester’s St Helena Hospice, Christopher also played a pivotal role in establishing Essex Macmillan Cancer Support and was a founding member of Essex Rivers Healthcare Trust.
In the role of Deputy Lieutenant of Essex, he was a positive force for good in the county’s important events, but he relished grassroots involvement too, including being a school governor, a trustee for the independent charitable trust, Essex Community Foundation (ECF) and as a parish and district councillor. Such an outstanding record of public service was recognised with an OBE.
Sadly, Christopher died in 2010 from a brain tumour, which was diagnosed soon after his retirement from Birkett Long, where he was a highly respected and much-loved Senior Partner. But his passion for helping people lives on, through the Christopher Holmes Charitable Fund, established in his memory with ECF.
Martin Hopkins, Managing Partner at Birkett Long said: “Chris was admired for his tireless work, supporting so many local charities, always willing to be involved in his local community. It was typical of him that the role he seemed most proud of was being chairman of the Earls Colne Good Companions Group in his home village, a position he held from the age of 32.
“As one of Chris’s partners in Birkett Long he encouraged and supported me. He became a very good friend of my whole family, and we were lucky enough to spend time with him, both when he was well and to have the privilege of looking after him when he was unwell.
“Before he died, Chris discussed with me that he intended to set up a fund with ECF and that he wanted me, my wife Rachel and our three children to act as advisers to ECF in distributing grants from the fund.
“The longevity of the fund is clearly visible when you look at the numbers” explains Martin. “Chris’ legacy had a value of £630,000 when it was set up and was matched with £220,000 under a government programme that was available to Community Foundations at the time. Its latest value is £842,000 and since it was established, the fund has distributed 80 grants with a total value of more than half a million pounds. As grants are awarded each year, this latter number will steadily increase year on year.
The fund aims to support those who have suffered unfairness and injustice, with particular interest in disadvantaged children, to increase literacy and numeracy in schools, improve care at home for the terminally ill, better support for asylum seekers and improved rehabilitation of offenders. These reflect the golden threads which ran through Chris’s attitude to life, his sense of fairness, justice and support for marginalised people.
Martin said, “Chris always emphasised that the whole basis of his life was that he loved people from all walks of life. He said he inherited that from his parents, who were both community minded. Although he did not marry and have a family of his own, Chris said he felt lucky that families seemed to come to him.”
Martin’s daughter, Polly Hopkins, has always been involved in the family discussions about which charities to support and says she was inspired by Chris and his fund to take up a career in the charitable sector herself.
Speaking at ECF’s spring reception held at Layer Marney Tower earlier this year, Polly said: “I am so grateful for my involvement from a young age with charitable giving. Chris’s legacy is a lesson in generosity, kindness and philanthropy that I have carried into my adult life. Currently, I work for a charity called GamCare, who provide treatment and support for those experiencing gambling harms. Chris’s passion for and commitment to helping those most marginalised by society has had a significant role in determining my career choice. My involvement with ECF as a teenager has had a profound impact on my career and has brought me much fulfilment personally.
“Our family could not have had such a positive experience, both managing the scale of the Christopher Holmes Charitable Fund and giving as much money as we have to so many good causes, without the support and expertise of ECF.
“By providing us with assurances about the charities we give to, and managing the fund’s finances for us, ECF have given us the confidence to protect and continue Chris’s legacy for many more years to come. ECF have made such an effort to ensure that not only my parents, but also me and my brothers, have had opportunities to engage with the fund’s work, as well as wider ECF projects.
“Before Chris died, he explained where he wanted our family to direct the money from his fund. Every grant decision we take as a family is intended to reflect his wishes and his desire to help those that society pays less attention to.
“We have supported Ormiston Families and their work on their Breaking Barriers project, providing tailored one to one support for children affected by the incarceration of a family member. We have funded the Breaking Barriers Project in Essex since it was piloted 10 years ago and it has been incredibly rewarding to see the project grow and develop, meeting the challenges of the last few years and continuing to provide valuable support to those families that were so important to Chris.”
The ethos of charitable support and social responsibility, held so dear by Chris, is echoed in the principles of Birkett Long, which has offices in Basildon, Chelmsford and Colchester. The firm recently established a corporate charitable fund with ECF to give grants which will help tackle disadvantage and boost community cohesion, health and wellbeing.
Martin Hopkins said: “We are a business which has always been embedded in and committed to the communities we serve. We have raised thousands of pounds in support of local charities over the years and setting up a long-term fund with ECF was a positive step for us to ensure our giving continues in the future.
“I am delighted that our Partners have supported a significant initial donation to establish our fund and look forward to working with our Events and Fundraising Committee as we build that endowment and make donations to support charities in our communities.”
Caption: (L-R) Polly Hopkins, Nick Alston CBE DL, Chair of ECF, Tina Hart, Regional Manager at Ormiston Families and Martin Hopkins attending ECF’s Spring reception at Layer Marney Tower
Ormiston Families
One of the projects supported by Chris’s Fund and ECF is Ormiston Families. The charity works across the East of England, offering services to help children and their families who are affected by the imprisonment or offending behaviour of a relative. They provide early support for people experiencing mental and emotional problems and run a wide range of family services in local communities.
Tina Hart, Regional Manager at Ormiston Families said, “We have helped approximately 200 children across Essex through the Breaking Barriers programme. The impact of familial imprisonment can be long lasting. It disrupts family life, can lead to poor mental health, involve negative school experiences and cause a lack of trust in others, resulting in unhealthy relationships and behaviours.
“Breaking Barriers provides a safe space where children and young people can talk, play and express themselves. It enables them to explore their feelings and break down some of the barriers which may prevent them from maintaining positive ties with their imprisoned family member.
“Through tailored one-to-one support Breaking Barriers reduces anxiety around prison, supports emotional wellbeing and school attendance.”
In the UK every year it is estimated that 312,000 children have a parent in prison. Currently there is no statutory framework to identify these children, so the number is likely to be higher. It falls upon charities and services like Ormiston Families to give support to children and families who find themselves in this situation. Studies have shown that 65% of boys with a convicted parent go on to offend themselves. Ormiston Families believes this number is not predetermined and with Breaking Barriers intervention this number can be reduced.
Tommy’s Story, by Tina Hart, Regional Manager at Ormiston Families:
Tommy was 13 years old when his brother was arrested, charged, and imprisoned for a serious offence and it was at this point everything changed for Tommy.
Prior to this event Tommy was a happy teenage boy. He loved playing football and sports with his friends, he enjoyed a game of chess with his brother and was a good student.
Tommy had lived in Essex all his life, his wider family to whom he was very close, all lived nearby. Following the arrest and imprisonment of his brother, Tommy’s life imploded at an age when an adolescent is establishing their identity and autonomy. Tommy was having to question everything he thought he knew.
Due to the nature of the crime, the story was reported in the media and widely shared on social media platforms. The local community and even their own family turned against Tommy and his mum, leaving them isolated and carrying the stigma of a crime they themselves had not committed.
It was for this reason Mum took the decision to relocate to where no one would know who they were, and they would not need to tell anyone about what had happened to them. As you can imagine this is a huge burden to carry.
We often talk about loss, the hidden harm to children affected by the imprisonment of a loved one, and how the feelings are not dissimilar to a bereavement, minus the care and empathy.
Tommy had suffered a great deal of loss. The loss of his beloved brother, his family, his home and the place he grew up, school and friendships and even the loss of the financial security due to Mum having to close her business.
When we met Tommy, he was struggling to engage with education due to a deterioration in his mental health, he was reluctant to accept support. Eventually he did agree to meet with a breaking barriers practitioner, on the understanding that they played chess with him and didn’t ask questions.
On his own terms Tommy shared that he found it difficult to talk about his feelings and he felt angry with his brother saying, ‘he’s ripped the family apart’.
Following the initial session Tommy began to refuse to see the practitioner, but she would show up every week as planned and sometimes she would speak with Mum offering a listening ear and advise on what she could do to help Tommy.
Like most parents she was desperate for Tommy to make friends, go to school and be happy again.
Tommy came to realise that at Ormiston, we don’t give up easily and he began to engage again. It was then that he explained how much he wanted to go to school, but each time he tried it felt like an invisible barrier was there that he just couldn’t get past. Tommy asked if this was something that we could help him with.
Tommy’s goal was to understand his feelings of anxiety, recognise the triggers, the physical signs and symptoms and learn some strategies to help him manage these feelings.
Tommy told us he was feeling under pressure to return to school before he was ready, and this was causing him more anxiety. He asked the practitioner if she could advocate for him at a school attendance meeting. The practitioner helped Tommy to write down what he wanted to say, and she would be his voice.
This was a huge turning point for Tommy, he was able to tell someone what he was feeling and have his voice heard and listened to.
By the end of our intervention Tommy told us he was ready to return to school in the new term. He went to an attendance meeting and with the support of Mum and his breaking barriers practitioner was able to talk to school about a manageable return to school plan.
He was given access to the school gym at times when it was quiet so he could get out and engage in an activity that he enjoyed, and which was good for his mental health. Tommy also began to reach out to friends old and new.
Tommy asked Mum if she would reach out to their family as he missed his cousins. Mum agreed to find a way to make this happen. Tommy now goes out regularly. He takes his dog for walks and he plans to go to college.
At the end of the intervention, Tommy told us that he enjoyed his sessions, and it has made him want to do more things. He said, ‘I’ve gone from sad to happy’.