The cheque measured roughly A3 size, oversized in that ceremonial way charities prefer. Aaron Spencer held one end, Leila Ilkhan the other, both smiling as cameras clicked at the Gulbenkian Arts Centre on a January evening that felt anything but gloomy. The figure printed across the middle—£30,000—represented the final tally from a year unlike any other at Furley Page.
Not many law firms reach their third century. Fewer still mark the occasion by sending solicitors up mountains in the dark.
Founded in Canterbury in 1725, Furley Page stands among the oldest legal practices anywhere in the world. When the firm’s partners gathered in 2024 to plan their tercentenary celebrations, they faced a question most businesses never confront: how do you honour three hundred years of history without simply looking backward?
Their answer involved dragon boats, beach cleanups, and a great deal of running.
Throughout 2025, staff at the firm’s Canterbury, Chatham and Whitstable offices threw themselves into a calendar of fundraising activities that tested endurance as much as legal expertise. Teams competed in the Canterbury 10-mile race, the Whitstable 10K and the Chatham Maritime 10K. Lawyers who normally navigate case law instead navigated the National Three Peaks Challenge, that gruelling trek across Britain’s highest mountains that leaves even seasoned hikers questioning their life choices. A crew entered Medway Sunlight Rotary’s Dragon Boat Challenge in Chatham dockyard, trading boardroom discussions for synchronized paddling.
By summer, the momentum had built sufficiently that the firm hosted Furley Fest, a celebration at Macknade in Faversham that added substantially to the growing donation fund. Between races and festivals, staff volunteered at Demelza children’s hospice, helped at Age UK, and worked shifts in Pilgrims Hospices’ charity shop. A contingent organized a beach clean near the Whitstable office. Social gatherings at Eastwell Manor and the 2025 East Kent Ploughing Match—yes, the ploughing match—reinforced connections across the community.
The firm also put its name behind Pride Canterbury, became match day sponsors of Kent Cricket Club, and supported the arts through the University of Kent’s Lunchtime Concerts and the Canterbury Festival. For a profession often stereotyped as risk-averse and inward-looking, it represented a conspicuously public year.
All of it fed toward Thursday’s finale: the premiere of a short film chronicling the firm’s history, titled “Furley Page: 300 Years and Counting,” followed by the presentation to Pilgrims Hospices. The beneficiary had been chosen deliberately. As the largest hospice charity in the region, Pilgrims provides end-of-life care across East Kent—work that depends almost entirely on donated funds rather than statutory support.
Jeremy Licence, Furley Page’s managing partner, acknowledged the significance when addressing the assembled guests. “This has been an extraordinary year for Furley Page. We are so pleased to have shared our celebrations across the community and I’m very proud of our fundraising efforts for Pilgrims Hospices, an extremely worthy cause,” he said. “This final event, held at the Gulbenkian Arts Centre, rounds off a wonderful year in our history. We are now equally excited as we look to the future and continue supporting our clients with their legal affairs.”
That balance—honouring the past while emphasising continuity—threaded through the evening. Three centuries creates weight. The firm had witnessed the Georgian era give way to Victorian, survived two world wars, adapted through technological revolutions that transformed legal practice from handwritten deeds to digital contracts. Yet the emphasis remained firmly on what comes next.
Spencer, who chairs the Furley Page Foundation’s Board of Trustees in addition to his role as partner and head of private client work, explained the thinking behind selecting Pilgrims. “To mark the firm’s 300th anniversary, the Trustees of the Foundation chose to support the fantastic work being done by Pilgrims Hospices, the largest local hospice charity,” he noted. “The charity relies on donations to fund its exceptional care to local people. I was delighted to hand over a cheque for £30,000, a staggering amount that will hopefully make a big difference. A huge thank you to the Furley Page staff and all the donors who helped us achieve our fundraising target.”
For Pilgrims, established over forty years ago, the donation represents both immediate practical help and broader validation. Hospice funding remains precarious across Britain, caught between rising demand for palliative care and constrained public resources. Corporate partnerships of this scale provide crucial stability.
Ilkhan, who manages corporate and trusts partnerships for the hospice, made the point plainly. “It was fantastic to be chosen as Furley Page’s charity of the year on their special anniversary, and we enjoyed being part of their celebrations. To receive such a significant donation is amazing and we’d like to thank all the team at Furley Page for their commitment to supporting local hospice care in East Kent,” she said.
The timing of the finale—late January, weeks after most festive enthusiasm has dissipated—felt almost deliberate. While other organizations might have rushed to conclude before Christmas, stretching the celebration into the new year maintained momentum. It also meant the donation arrived precisely when charitable funds typically run lowest, after the seasonal giving surge has passed.
What the evening ultimately demonstrated was less about legal history than institutional culture. Firms don’t survive three centuries through excellence alone. They endure by embedding themselves in communities, by earning trust across generations, by proving their value extends beyond billable hours. The solicitors who climbed mountains in the dark or paddled dragon boats weren’t simply raising money. They were making visible a relationship between institution and place that might otherwise remain abstract.
Whether clients attending the premiere were thinking about succession planning or conveyancing, they were also watching lawyers reveal themselves as neighbours. That matters in ways difficult to quantify but easy to feel.
As guests filed out of the Gulbenkian into the January night, the film’s final images still flickering in memory, the question hanging in the air wasn’t really about the past three hundred years. It was about the next three hundred—and whether the partnerships forged in 2025, between firm and community, between legal practice and human need, would prove as durable as the ones that came before.
For now, Pilgrims Hospices has £30,000 more to fund the care that matters most. And somewhere in Canterbury, a 300-year-old law firm is looking ahead.
