Firm named as winner in this category for its virtual adaptation and delivery of its ‘Working with Schools’ programme

Independent UK law firm Burges Salmon has been named as the winner of the CSR Initiative of the Year at The Legal Week British Legal Awards 2021, hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald OBE.

This award recognises the firm’s ‘Working with Schools’ initiative, led by Burges Salmon’s Corporate Responsibility team. The judges were looking for an ambitious initiative that effectively delivered its objectives and Burges Salmon grabbed the judge’s attention for impacting the lives and career aspirations of countless less-advantaged students in their community at a grassroots level.

The firm adapted this programme throughout the pandemic to support less-advantaged students. This included providing financial funding, deploying volunteers, hosting on-line sessions, creating new virtual content, establishing new collaborations and donating books and IT equipment.

The programme combines in-house activities along with support to community-based organisations to enable a dynamic portfolio of; work experience, career guidance, mock interviews, curriculum enhancement, cv reviews, mentoring, confidence building, skills development, workplace engagements, project work and insight sessions.

Working with Schools is geared towards state school students aged 14 – 18. It seeks to especially enable students from low-income households and with parents that did not attend university.

Prior to the pandemic, the programme had already been recognised as best practice, with endorsement from Business in the Community, which named Burges Salmon a ‘Responsible Business Champion 2020’, providing a strong foundation from which to work.

During the first year of the pandemic, Burges Salmon’s Working with Schools Programme: collaborated with 39 community organisations; contacted 127 schools with opportunities; reached 528 students beneficiaries; and, deployed 207 Volunteers.

Head of Corporate Responsibility at Burges Salmon, Kirsty Green-Mann, comments: “We are delighted to have achieved this recognition as a CSR Initiative of the Year winner. Social mobility is integral to the firm and we believe people from all backgrounds should have the chance to succeed by developing the skills they need for their futures – whether this be through work experience, career guidance, or financial funding.”

This award follows the firm being named CSR Team of the Year at the South West Dealmakers Awards 2021 in September, Community Engagement Law Firm of the Year at the Bristol Law Society Awards 2021 last month along with Kirsty Green-Mann recently receiving the ESG Officer of the Year accolade at the Women in Governance, Risk and Compliance Awards.

This year’s British Legal Awards took place at an in-person event, at London Hilton on Park Lane on 17 November, 2021.