Values into Community Action - Tyler Foundation

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Values into Community Action | 2007-2008 As part of our commitment to City Gateway, we run a number of “Insight Days” during the year, which gives the students invaluable exposure to life in the City and the practical skills needed to gain employment. These are organised by Andrew Gilmour, Jacqui Grundy, sanjay nayee and Jon Palmer from our IT department and consist of a number of presentations given during the day, including sessions on CV writing and interview skills. Those who have given presentations include Lauren Baldwin, Hayley Cohen, Fiyin Fayeye, Yvette James, Valerie Jupp, edward Moser, Abdul Muith, nicola Munro, seetal Patel, Kirralee sanders, Katie spooner, Ben tillson, Dave tregaskes and shuhel Uddin. We have also hosted a number of “Insight Tours” this year, which are shorter visits focusing on specific areas of the office. nick Croker, manager of the Health and Wellbeing Centre in Bishops Square, organised a tour of the gym for students, with Vicky smith and tim Austen assisting on the day. Michael Hosannah and tony Lesforis led another tour which visited the Creative Services and AV Media teams. GeneRAL COMMUnItY WORK Maxitech Maxitech is a non-profit social enterprise company and has an ongoing programme to train and develop young people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds through work placement schemes. These programmes are conducted in conjunction with re-employment organisations and train young people on computer hardware using our redundant equipment. Maxitech's aim is to help young people overcome the pattern of social exclusion. Maxitech arranges for Allen & Overyʼs unwanted equipment to be tested and given to charities in and around Tower Hamlets. Currently we have donated around £20,000 worth of hardware including base units, monitors, printers and laptops that are either reused or disposed of in accordance with the Governments new WEEE Regulations. Alan terry and Gregory Morgan put in all the hard work to make sure that the equipment is ready for collection by Maxitech. This year Alan terry also secured a cheque from shpSolutions which purchased 400 redundant mobile phones for £784. This money has been donated to our Community Partner of the Year. streetshine StreetShine is a social enterprise that gives people who have experienced homelessness, suffered disadvantage in the job market and are in the process of rebuilding their lives the chance to earn a regular income by operating a shoeshine service within offices in the City of London. One Bishops Square provides this popular shoeshine service in the lobby once a week. Geraldine Artuso, who works in Bishops Square through StreetShine, says, “I would like to be seen working because it reflects better on everything, and I bring in cash that goes back into developing the business and helping more people.” Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity is an international charity dedicated to building affordable housing for low-income families around the world. One of their current projects in the UK is based in Southwark. Over the past year, a number of teams from A&O have volunteered at the site. Our volunteers have been involved at many different stages, from helping to clear the site and dig trenches at the beginning of the project, to installing plasterboards and radiators inside the new properties. One lucky member of staff even got to drive the siteʼs dump-truck. 58 © Allen & Overy LLP 2008
Dominique Ashby commented that “it was brilliant fun – the site staff were both professional and very friendly trying to get us involved whenever they could in what they were doing. So we experienced digging, sawing and lots of carrying of planks. I learnt a lot about the community in Peckham and the importance of affordable housing in London, as well as the building-type skills we were taught.” Volunteers include: sally Andrews, Dominique Ashby, Claire Butterfill, Reuben Connolly, Justine Deighan, emma Fell, John Francis, sophie Hogg, Kseniya elfimova, Conan Lauterpacht, Vince neicho, Rosemary Oxley, Joanna Page, Patrizia Pasqualini, nirali Patel, Raj Patel, Reshma Patel, Ben Price, David shaw, Pete smith, Laura spearing, Luke streatfeild, Jan thirley, sara Vandore, Maria Vassalos, Anthony Ward and Heather Webster. Book Aid International “Bring a Book to Work” Week 2007-2008 I Values into Community Action In October Allen & Overy participated in Book Aid International's (BAI) Bring a Book to Work Week. This event is an important fundraiser for Book Aid International and A&O staff were encouraged to donate books to BAIʼs books provision programme for sub-Saharan Africa. The books were donated to disadvantaged communities including refugees, girls and women, people with disabilities and in rural populations. Donation of law books The Library in A&Oʼs London office regularly donates old editions of books within its collections to a number of different organisations, including Battersea Legal Advice Centre, the International Book Facility, the Statute Law Revision Society and the English-speaking Polish Law Club based in Dabrowa, Poland. These donations are coordinated by Philippa smart. CLIent COLLABORAtIOn PROJeCts Working with our corporate clients on pro bono and community projects offers a new way of developing client relationships and working together to have an impact on the communities that surround the City. In addition to the two workshops described below, other collaborative projects with clients include the Debt Advice clinic at Toynbee Hall, which was set up jointly with ABN Amro, and the Spitalfields-based project being developed with Deutsche Bank, Hammerson plc and the East London Business Alliance. Further information on both of these projects can be found elsewhere in this report. Ge secondment At the start of this year we seconded Louise Zekaria, from our Private Client Department to GE Corporate to assist with the development of GEʼs European pro bono programme. Our seconded associate is working with the lawyer responsible for European pro bono at GE to implement an internal infrastructure to manage the day-to-day operation of pro bono projects for GE. Her responsibilities and outcomes include creating policies, a database of volunteers, working with “local champions” and committees for each of the GE businesses, engaging in consultation with GE staff to find out their interests, and liaising with local NGOs in communities where GE operates to understand local needs. Our secondee is also identifying and setting up suitable pro bono projects for GE lawyers, some of which A&O and GE lawyers will get involved in together. For example, A&O and GE are piloting a legal seminars programme for charities in Budapest. We will cover our areas of expertise (corporate structures, directors' duties, employment, tax, property etc) and will be able to reach large sections of the local community in this way. This work develops the expertise and presentation skills of lawyers from both Allen & Overy and GE in Budapest as well as having an impact on the local community. © Allen & Overy LLP 2008 59
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Values into Community Action - Tyler Foundation

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