Liz Brownsell

Partner, Head of Charities Ipswich Office

+44 1473 406383 +44 7525 735802 [email protected]

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Liz Brownsell

Liz is the Head of Charities at Birketts.

Liz’s expertise covers a wide range of matters affecting charities, including setting up and incorporation, mergers, corporate structuring and restructuring, governance (including constitutional and membership issues), commercial arrangements and contracts (including joint ventures and collaborative agreements), trading and charity retail (in particular Gift Aid for charity shops), investment matters, fundraising, matters involving the Charity Commission (including investigations), releasing permanent endowment and other restricted funds, and general charity law.

Liz advises a very broad range of charities and with her background in corporate law (having begun her career in a Magic Circle firm) has particular expertise advising on mergers, restructuring and other transactions for charities. She also regularly advises philanthropists, grant-making charities and donor-advised funds on impact investment and complex grant arrangements, and has significant expertise advising large operational charities (including household name charities, Royal Charter charities and charities operating internationally) on general charity law and governance matters. She is known for her extraordinary depth of knowledge, her ability to clearly explain complex legal topics to her clients, her solutions-orientated approach, work-rate and aptitude for thinking ‘outside the box’, and for deftly managing complex transactions for her clients.

Liz regularly delivers seminars and is often invited to speak at sector events on a variety of topics. Liz also delivers the firm’s programme of Charity Trustee Induction and Refresher Training (available as a series of webinar modules on our website). In November 2023, Liz featured as a charity law expert in a Channel 5 documentary titled “Captain Tom: Where Did the Money Go?”, followed by a second documentary, “Captain Tom: What Happened Next?”, which aired on Sunday 4 February 2024 (available on My5). To find out more about Liz’s contribution, read her article on our website. Liz also featured in a BBC documentary ‘Scams & Scandals, Captain Tom: What Went Wrong?’, which aired on BBC 2 on 6 January 2025 (and is available on BBC iPlayer).

Liz is an Officer on the Executive Committee of the Charity Law Association and has an active interest in the development of the sector. She has been involved in many CLA Working Parties over the years, including Lord Hodgson’s review of the Charities Act 2006, the Law Commission’s consultation on technical issues in charity law, the Charity Governance Code, the Charity Commission’s updated CC14 guidance (on charities and investment matters), and she chaired the CLA Working Party reviewing the Charity Commission’s updated CC36 guidance (on amending governing documents). Liz is a member of the CLA Standing Committee on Model Documents for Charities.

Recent work highlights

National Children’s Bureau acquisition of Research in Practice

Advising the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) in securing the transfer of Research in Practice to NCB from another charity. NCB works to champion the rights of children and young people in the UK. A leading children’s charity, NCB takes the voices of children to the heart of government, bringing people and organisations together to drive change in society and deliver better childhoods for every child.

Barnardo’s governance changes

Advising Barnardo’s on options for membership arrangements, including sector analysis. Barnardo’s was established in the 1860s and is now a national charity supporting children and providing specialist services. It has historically had a wide membership, but with our advice decided to move away from a wider membership to an oligarchy structure primarily with a view to achieving better engagement with its stakeholders, including beneficiaries.

Amnesty International governance review

Liz was appointed as an expert adviser to Amnesty International in connection with a major governance reform project, having carried out a comprehensive governance review of the framework for the organisation’s international operations (involving the production and presentation of a Report to the International Board in June 2022). Liz continues to provide advice on a range of charity law and governance matters for Amnesty International.