Brabners and We Love MCR launch dedicated social mobility bursary in memory of legal icon
We have partnered with charity We Love MCR to launch a £30,000 bursary over an initial period of three years in memory of former Manchester United director and Brabners partner, Maurice Watkins CBE.
The bursary fund will help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to begin a career in law.
The Maurice Watkins Bursary forms part of We Love MCR’s Rising Stars Fund and will initially commit £10,000 in development support each year between now and 2025 with the aspiration, based on its success, it would continue long into the future.
Budding law professionals aged 15-22 living in Manchester can apply for grant money to help cover the cost of essential items including laptops and books for studying, travel costs for internships, or clothing for interviews.
The bursary honours our former partner and leading sports lawyer who died last year aged 79. Watkins served on Manchester United’s board for 28 years, and as a partner at Brabners for 15 years.
Watkins’ services to charity saw him made a CBE in the 2011 Queen’s Birthday Honours list, having raised more than £68 million for hospitals as chairman of the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital charity appeals board.
Sir Alex Ferguson, said: “The Maurice Watkins Bursary is a fitting legacy for Maurice after a life spent helping others. I’m sure this bursary will be a huge success and a fitting testimony to Maurice’s generosity."
Our managing partner Nik White said: “Maurice dedicated so much of his life to charitable causes, so the launch of a bursary in his name is a worthy tribute to his achievements.
“Our partnership with We Love MCR will improve access to a career in law for young Mancunians from non-privileged backgrounds. Our commitment to make the difference goes beyond our clients and people to the communities we operate in, and providing equal opportunities will ultimately help to enrich the city’s thriving legal community with a more diverse range of voices and perspectives.”
Ged Carter at We Love MCR, said: “Our partnership with Brabners and the launch of the Maurice Watkins Bursary represents a welcome boost for social mobility in Manchester’s legal sector. Our Manchester’s Rising Stars Fund has helped many disadvantaged young people to seize opportunities that would have otherwise been out of their reach. The generous support from Brabners ensures that we can deliver much more of this important work.”
The Maurice Watkins Bursary is part of a range of initiatives supported by our social mobility affinity group to improve diversity in the legal profession. Our commitment to promoting positive social change saw us named Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Champions at the Manchester Legal Awards 2022. We also support local charities through the independent Brabners Foundation, which has raised more than a quarter of a million pounds for charities since its creation in 2012.