In excess of 300 partners and staff from firms across the city are expected to volunteer for Leeds Legal Education and Enterprise week, taking place between 17 and 21 November 2008. Spearheaded by Leeds Legal and Leeds Ahead, the week’s activities will provide volunteers with the opportunity to encourage primary and secondary school children, in inner city Leeds schools, to develop their enterprising spirit.
The programme will encourage students in some of the most deprived areas of Leeds to engage in a range of activities designed to educate young people about careers, business and enterprise, with support from key role models within the legal profession.
Running alongside the national Enterprise Week initiative – dedicated to unlocking enterprising talent, with a series of projects taking place across the country – Leeds lawyers will help out at different activities throughout the week. The tasks at primary and secondary schools include a ‘Smoothie Challenge’ - to make and take to market the best smoothie, a ‘World of Work Day’ - dressing up as what you want to be when you grow up, and ‘Make Your Mark’ - a national enterprise competition to encourage students to develop new ideas and innovative products in response to a secret brief.
Alan M. Baker, chairman of Leeds Legal, the UK’s only city-based legal marketing campaign, said: “We have had an encouraging response so far to Education and Enterprise Week - even at this early stage the city’s firms are keen to get their teams signed up. It is a great example of the city’s legal profession working together, to give something back to the young people of Leeds
“We attracted around 280 local lawyers to take part in last year’s Environment Week, and we are hoping to build on that number for this year.“
Stephanie Burras, chief executive from Leeds Ahead, an award-winning social business that is helping companies across the city to get involved in the social and economic regeneration of Leeds, said: “This is a great opportunity to encourage young people within inner city schools to consider their future and career aspirations by meeting role models from the legal sector. Volunteers for Enterprise Week look encouraging, and we’re delighted that so many people are keen to get involved.”
Education and Enterprise Week follows a similar Leeds Legal initiative last year focusing on the environment, which attracted 280 Leeds lawyers to take part in a week of bulb-planting, city centre tidy ups, landscaping and painting in five of Leeds’ most deprived areas. This was the largest sector-led initiative of its kind in the city.
Firms across the city who have already agreed to take part include Pinsent Masons, Shulmans, Beachcroft, Gordons, Irwin Mitchell, Hammonds, Fox Hayes and Watson Burton.
Leeds Legal is the only city-based legal sector promotional campaign in the country. The body promotes law firms in the area and the high levels of service, expertise, no nonsense advice and value for money it says they provide. The organisation also administers an international programme of events, supported by UK Trade and Investment, the government organisation supporting domestic firms doing business internationally and overseas companies wanting to invest here. Leeds Legal is one of the most successful city agencies to utilise European and international trade missions.
