Alison is a lawyer who is currently a consultant at Withers LLP, after 30 years as a partner at that firm.  She has specialised throughout her career in advising charities and other non-profit bodies, and those who contract with or donate to them. 

Her clients have included service providers, grant-makers, educational bodies, aid agencies and research institutes, as well as individual and corporate philanthropists.  She has advised on all aspects of charities’ activities but specialises in strategic and governance advice. 

She is the past Chair of the Charity Law Association; has been a charity trustee of grant-making foundations and of schools within both the maintained and independent sectors; and is currently a trustee of a school bursary fund. 

She has recently been appointed as the Protector of Forces in Mind Trust by the National Lottery Community Fund and of the Millennium Awards Trust by the Department for Culture Media and Sport.