COMMUNITYMATTERS2016 01
What’s inside our journey Welcome – Mike Brown 02 Our green credentials 03 Thank you – Chris Newton 04 Thank you from Macmillan 05 Firmwide activity 07 Belfast & Derry 08 Birmingham 09 Dublin 11 Edinburgh & Glasgow 13 Liverpool 15 London 17 Manchester 21 Southampton back01
WelcomeAs I look through our new edition of CommunityMatters it strikes me that the people at BLM reallyare living our values – Courage,Teamwork and Focus.This new report demonstrates our amazing achievements from the past12 months, the cakes that have been baked, the marathons that havebeen run and the mountains that have been climbed.These challengesare all encompassing of the BLM values and all, selflessly in the name ofcharity. I can say that I am more proud than ever of our determinationto support our chosen charity and local communities.We have continued to work with local support groups, nationalcharities including our corporate charity, Macmillan and individuals andorganisations to recognise and help fund awareness.As ever, BLM is committed to corporate social responsibility.We ensureethical practice through all lines of the business and continue to reviewthis across areas such as environmental practices, our marketplace,our communities as demonstrated in this report and of course, ourworkplace.As we look forward to reaching our vision of being one of the leadingglobal insurance and risk law specialist by 2020, the spotlight will havemore focus on how we are continuing to support local communitiesin both the legal and insurance sectors and wider. It is a very excitingtime for BLM and as we continue to evolve at pace to align withthe industries in which we operate I am pleased to see, as ever, thedemonstrable commitment and belief in BLM from my colleagues.A big thank you to Chris Newton for his leadership and contribution toour CSR activities.I hope you enjoy reading this report as much as I have.Mike Brown, senior partner 02
Our green credentials Go Green Scheme ESOS We reported in the last edition that BLM had signed On 5 December 2015 BLM achieved compliance with up for a Go Green initiative, a free toner cartridge the mandatory government scheme. A number of recycling service. Since the scheme started, we have recommendations have been provided and these are diverted from landfill to recycling: currently being considered in line with the overall business strategy. Used Used User Rollers Toner Toner Paper-lite Bottles Drum 50 With the introduction of paper-lite in London we 913 20 have seen a 46% reduction in the volume of paper being used. During the next 12 months, there will be a Water number of initiatives across the business which will see Toner the introduction of paper-lite into other teams/locations. Bottles Paper recycling 358 The confidential paper recycling scheme operated nationally has seen BLM reduce its environmental impact during the last 12 months. To make one tonne of paper By recycling through Shred-it using recycled fibre saves you have saved approximately approximately the following: the equivalent of: 17 Trees 4993.9 Trees saved 2.5 Cubic meters of landfill space 293.8 Tons of recycled fibre produced 1363 Litres of water 734.4 Cubic meters landfill saved 378 Litres of petrol 400392.8 Litres of water saved 27.2 Kilos of air pollutants 111040.7 Litres of petrol saved 10401 Kilowatts of electricity 7990.2 Kilos of air pollutants saved 1.3 Tonnes of carbon equivalent 3055381.9 Kilowatts of electricity saved 6591.9 Tonnes of carbon equivalent03
Scotland recyclingOur Scotland offices operate a number of recycling initiatives and in thepast year have recycled and achieved savings on Co2 emissions.Stationery amnestyOur first stationery amnesty was a great success and the dates havenow been scheduled for the coming year 26 August 2016 and 24February 2017.Christine Cheetham, head of corporate servicesThank youThank you for taking the time to read our 2016 editionof Community Matters. I hope you will be inspired by thebreadth and depth of our charitable initiatives.Each BLM office has a dedicated CSR and those charities/individuals thatteam. In addition to supporting our we support. A simple act can make anational charity Macmillan, each office huge difference – such as the Dublinsupports local charities which ranges gift giving Christmas tree or KidsOutfrom fundraising to practical support initiative in Birmingham. Read on tosuch as mentoring, pro bono legal learn more about them!advice and skills workshops. If youwould like find out more about what Finally I would like to thank our nationalwe do and the difference that you can charity Macmillan. Our three yearmake, please contact your local CSR partnership ends in early 2017.Theyrepresentative whose details are on have been brilliant to work with andpage 23. we are proud to have raised over £100,000 to help ensure that no-oneI would also like to thank all the BLM faces cancer alone.CSR representatives who work tirelesslyto promote CSR, organise activities Chris Newton,and encourage both their colleagues partner and head of CSR 04
Thank you from Macmillan All of us at Macmillan Cancer Support are delighted to continue working with BLM in our third year of this incredible partnership.Thank you to each and every one of you who has donated, baked, taken on a challenge and raised vital funds for people affected by cancer.Today, there are 2.5 million people living with cancer in the UK and this number will reach 4 million by 2030.We simply couldn’t continue and expand our vital services without supporters such as BLM. When you have cancer, you don’t just worry about what will happen to your body, you worry about what will happen to your life.Whether it’s concerns about who you can talk to, planning for the extra costs or what to do about work, at Macmillan we understand how a cancer diagnosis can affect everything. No one should face cancer alone. So when you need someone to turn to, we’re here. Right from the moment you’re diagnosed, through your treatment and beyond, we’re a constant source of support, giving you the energy and inspiration to help you take back control of your life. In 2015 Macmillan reached out to 5.9 million people affected by cancer, through services that were funded solely through public generosity. Just £27 is enough to fund a Macmillan nurse for one hour, so every penny really does help us reach out to those most in need and to make sure no one faces cancer alone. We know we have a very big task ahead of us this year and beyond. But we’re confident that we can achieve more than we ever have before, but we can only do this with your continued support. BLM will be taking part in our flagship event the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning on Friday 30th September, an event that raised £27 million in 2015. Don’t forget, whether you like swimming, cycling, running, hiking or baking, we have an event for you. I look forward to seeing the fantastic fundraising events each BLM office has planned for this year. Noriko Homma, Macmillan Fundraising Manager, North East London05
mWtghooeehnsee.r.ye.£96,800 could help run a small Macmillan information and support£52,740 centre for a year.£34,202 would fund a Macmillan nurse for a whole year.£24,829 could pay for a Macmillan cancer information and support£13,500 specialist for a year.This would mean more people affected by cancer would have someone to answer their questions £2,873 and talk to about their concerns. £625 could pay for one of our Macmillan Mobile Cancer £175 Information Centres for an active month. In this time, the centre, on average, will be visited by 916 people. £5 could pay for one of our Macmillan Mobile Cancer Information buses to visit four sites to offer information for the general public about cancer and its effects. could operate the welfare rights element of our phone service for a day. In this time, our cancer support specialists could, on average, deal with 61 cases and help secure £115,425 in unclaimed benefits. could pay for the production of a master audio version of one of our booklets and 50 copies of it. could pay for a Macmillan Grant that helps a person living with cancer heat their home when they really need to. could pay for 9 copies of The Cancer Guide.This Macmillan booklet can help someone recently diagnosed with cancer, and their families, understand more about cancer. 06
Firmwide activity Green Week 8-12 June 2015 – £4,000 raised BLM took part in Macmillan’s Green Week ‘Go Green for Macmillan’ in June 2015. Each office was encouraged to host a series of fundraising events across the week and they didn’t hold back! From quiz nights, to bake offs and raffles, the teams truly rallied round and raised a staggering £4,000 for the firm’s charity. Coffee morning – 25 September The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning took place in September 2015, which saw everyone at BLM come together to raise money Macmillan.There were so many cakes and bakes made especially for the occasion and a grand total of £1,251.20 was raised – a fantastic achievement. NFU Mutual golf day Iain Buchanan, Dan Thomas, Kevin Hegarty and Matthew Grimson all took part in the NFU Mutual charity golf day on 11 September at the Welcombe Hotel Spa and Gold Club in Warwickshire, raising around £20,000 for Guide Dogs for the Blind.07
Belfast &DerryOn-street collectionBLM staff in the Belfast office took to the streets to help raise money for charitypartner Macmillan.Regular dress downStaff in Belfast and Derry raised money with dress down days on the last Friday ofevery month.Wills initiativeIn November, the team supported Macmillan’s ‘wills initiative’, making 15 wills for newcustomers, with their professional fees being donated straight to Macmillan, whichcombined with a coffee morning raised over £400.Sock it to themBLM’s Claire Watson led the team’s “Sock it to them” effort at Christmas, with staffdonating their socks to the homeless. 08
Birmingham Charity trek to Kilimanjaro Laura Dwyer and Richard Lloyd climbed Kilimanjaro in June 2015 and raised an impressive £1080 Here’s their story: “We reached the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro at 5.40am on Saturday 20 June 2015.This was despite Laura suffering from pretty bad altitude sickness including headaches, vomiting, dizziness and even some hallucinations at the summit. Naturally, Richard was absolutely fine and was happily snapping away with the camera whilst Laura could barely walk in a straight line! The photograph taken from the plane on the way in to Tanzania shows just how high that mountain was. Unfortunately, the photographs taken at the summit are not very clear as it was still dark when we arrived and all the camera lenses had frozen (it was below -10c), but you can just about make out the sign at the top!”09
Supported KidsOutOur team in Birmingham took part in The Giving Tree Project for the charity KidsOut,that provides fun and positive experiences for children who are living in refuge,economic hardship or with other acute disadvantages.This involved BLM staff buyingtoys for the charity to distribute. Most of the children receiving the gifts would haveotherwise had none at all. A fantastic effort by all involved.Chris Recker – student mentorChris Recker is a BLM solicitor and is a mentor for a student at BPP and also astudent at the University of Law. He regularly attends the schools to assist with lawfairs and other events which include mock assessment centres, mock interviews,speed networking, presenting on commercial awareness and presenting onexperiences and tips for applications.Chris is also involved in the University of Law’s business challenge and has attended asa volunteer over the past two years.Festive fundraisingIn December BLM Birmingham held a festive fundraising day which included a festivecake sale and Christmas jumper competition.We raised just over £136. 10
Dublin BLM coffee morning Our team in Dublin hosted a coffee morning in aid of the Irish Cancer Society on 25 September.They received great support in terms of baking contributions from employees and equally generous donations from all.The total raised was €369.80, which included purchase of World Cup Rugby sweepstakes tickets. NMH Fashion Show Our healthcare team in Dublin supported the NMH Foundation which raises funds to support the work of the National Maternity Hospital. Partners and customers attended a fashion show in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham in November 2015. BLM contributed €800 to this event which assisted in the fundraising campaign for a scanner for the Hospital. St. Vincent de Paul, gift giving Christmas tree Our team in Dublin supported the Society of St.Vincent de Paul and their gift giving tree campaign in December. The society cares for families in difficulty and visits them throughout the year to assist them where they can. The gift giving tree involved each employee choosing a gift tag for a child of a particular age and purchasing a gift for them.The office spent time deciding their age groups and made sure we had a range of ages that were included.The event was supported by all and once again everyone was so generous. Approximate cost of gifts €750.11
Law Society of Ireland –Legal Education Project –MYANMARLisa Conkey, trainee solicitor volunteered in a LegalEducation Project in Myanmar organised by the IrishRule of Law International (IRLI) in January 2016. IRLI isa joint non-profit initiative of the Law Society of Irelandand the Bar of Ireland, with a view to promoting therule of law in developing countries. Lisa was one ofseven who travelled to Myanmar to provide advocacytraining to students and legal aid partnerships with localorganisation, Bridges Across Borders South East Asia– Community Legal Education.The project coincidedwith the Myanmar National Mock Trial at East YangonUniversity and brought together 40 law students and48 dedicated teachers during two days of workshops.The workshops covered the basic concepts of law andtrial skills required for every aspect of a trial.They alsoprovided training related to legal ethics, rule of law andthe importance of fair trials.All the ‘international trainers’ as they were knowndonned traditional longyis, whilst enduring the searingheat in unairconditioned study halls to teach thestudents.As Myanmar emerges from decades under military rule,many aspects of the legal system are being started fromthe ground up. Lisa thoroughly enjoyed her experienceduring this week and the part she played.BLM donated an amount of €1,600 towards thisinitiative. 12
Edinburgh & Glasgow Edinburgh Marathon Festival The office took part in the Edinburgh Marathon Festival. Each one managing to cross the finish line! In all we raised £8,020.00 with BLM contributing a further £8,000.00….so a massive £16,020.00 raised in total! The BLM colleagues formed five relay teams to complete the 26.2 mile course while two additional BLM runners – Katie Anderson and Jamie Varney – ran the whole marathon. Representatives from the litigation, family law, IT and administrations departments ran to raise funds for BLM’s charity partner.The donation represents £8,000 raised by the runners that was then matched by BLM in accordance with its partnership. Siobhan Kelly, BLM partner and the firm’s CSR partner in Scotland, explained:“BLM is immensely proud of its fundraising partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support as so many of our staff, customers and contacts have some experience or connection to those living with cancer. “The team in Scotland were determined to participate in a fundraising challenge that would involve a number of us and the marathon was perfect as it allowed us to train together and fundraise together.The Marathon was our way to be companions to those affected by the cancer journey and everyone involved did a tremendous job.”13
Big Macmillan coffee extravaganzaThe BLM team in Scotland took part in the Macmillan Coffee Morning in September,but with a wee twist. Cocktails were served in the boardroom from 5pm.Tom Cruise,commonly known as David Hutchison, made a guest appearance and shook his stuffCocktail style.Tom has a hidden talent….he makes the BEST White Russians ever!Along with White Russians, there was also Green-Tea Infused Gin Bubbles, BlackRussians and Kir Royale. A very impressive total of £536.01 was raised, cheers!Advent calendarsContinuing our relationship with Glasgow City Mission and its food banks it wasbrought to our attention that a number of families with children utilise the Mission’sservices. At Christmas every child deserves a magical time surrounded by love. Everychild also has an advent calendar – unless your family can’t afford food let alone anadvent calendar.That’s why we donated over 60 advent calendars to the Mission soevery child registered with them had a small piece of the magicof Christmas.HCPTSiobhan Kelly is one of the trustees of this charity and in its 60th year though only her28th of participating in the annual pilgrimage to Lourdes. Her mission is to tell anyonewho will listen something about it because new volunteer helpers are always soughtso what better forum than this.To find out more go to www.hcpt.org.uk 14
Liverpool The Wire Challenge A team in Liverpool took on the zip wire challenge for Macmillan.The Wire Challenge is an extreme zip wire thrill seeker attraction challenge for those who like fun and excitement.This attraction and event is the UK's first city centre challenge right in the heart of Liverpool, starting at Church Street and spanning nearly 1000ft from a launch height of almost 100ft.The team raised £438.50. Apprentice sweepstake Staff in BLM’s Liverpool office raised money for Macmillan Cancer Support with a sweepstake based on the TV show “The Apprentice”.The team raised £50.15
Wirral Dragon Boat RaceThe team in Liverpool once again took part once again in the highly anticipatedDragon Boat Race and raised a fantastic £565 for Headway Wirral – a charitysupporting brain injuries, selling donated clothes, toys and bric-a-brac to raise funds. 16
London Tooting lido relay swim For the second year BLM entered a team to brave the chilly waters of the UK’s largest outdoor swimming pool in Tooting.They each swam two kilometres in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. Jason Cherot, Adam Lewitt, Tim Shaw and Robert Stevenson all took part in the challenge and raised £585 in total. City Three Peaks Challenge BLM strategic advisor, Guy Munnoch, took on the City Three Peaks Challenge and helped raise almost £3million in aid of Outward Bound. BLM also gave its London staff the opportunity to choose from a range of six award-winning ice creams and sorbets, produced by the famous Rossi Original Ice Cream company, served from their authentic tricycle in exchange for a contribution of £1 which will be donated to the Outward Bound Trust. Gunnersbury School Jade Cripps, Julia Free and Katie Ray attended Gunnersbury School in Hounslow in December 2015 to present to students on the opportunities for aspiring lawyers.The team shared their own experiences and background with the pupils and gave them some great advice on how to get into law.17
London Legal WalkChris Newton, Robert Church-Taylor, Adam Lewitt, Natalie Webber, PadidehDolatshahi and Jennifer Barrow, Emma Draper, Rhiannon Griffiths, Polly Miller, PinarUnek, Natalie Young, Julia Sweeney, Alistair Burford, James Jerman, Matthew Shotton,Peter Stockill, Miriam Rahamim, Guy Lane, Alistair Kinley and Sam Mullender all tookto the streets in May 2015 to take part in the London Legal Walk which is a 10kmwalk through London’s legal district.The team walked with the Lord Chief Justice andthousands of lawyers to raise funds for the London Legal Support Trust which fundsLaw Centres and pro bono agencies in and around London. A total of £851.25 wasraised – a great effort!Dress down for NepalThe London team wore their casual clothes in the office for a day to raise muchneeded funds for the victims of the Nepal earthquake. £376 was raised. 18
London North London Cares The London office has teamed up with a charity called North London Cares, which provides companionship and activities for the elderly in the local community.The charity aims to bring people together across long-standing social and generational divides and tackle isolation and loneliness. On Thursday 31 March 2016 between 12:30 and 15:00 the team held an event for the charity at Plantation Place.The charity was provided with a tour of the office and lunch followed by a mock trial. Alice Jarratt and Patrick Maxwell from Crown Office Chambers kindly volunteered to assist us with the mock trial. “A visit to the City is such a huge treat.They loved seeing how it’s changed and were so thrilled to see such an impressive building, they’d never usually have access to. The lunch was incredible and they were so touched by the effort - it makes them all feel so valued, which is lovely when so many live alone and feel like the world has forgotten them.Your team were so kind and the trial was absolutely fantastic.” North London Cares Jennifer Johnston tackles the London Marathon BLM associate Jennifer ran a mere 26.2 miles around the streets of London in April for Macmillan in 4 hours 28 minutes. But, she didn’t hang up her trainers on that day! She is now planning to tackle the Vitruvian triathlon in aid of Macmillan in September, which is a half ironman distance race (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run).Well done and good luck Jennifer! £250 was raised in the BLM office to support Jennifer’s fundraising efforts. A total of £1448.20 was raised by Jennifer.19
Whizz-KidzBLM is advertising up to six, three-day work experience placements this year inLondon.We ran a pilot scheme in December 2015 whereby Whizz-Kidz placement,Daniel Holt, spent three days shadowing members of the personal injury, SHE andoccupational disease teams in December. Daniel’s feedback on the experience wasso good that we couldn’t resist adding some more placements this year!Citizen’s Advice Bureau at the RCJBLM solicitors act as Honorary Legal Advisers at the Citizen’s Advice Bureau atthe Royal Courts of Justice, advising individuals on their legal rights and on thelitigation process. Free legal advice plays an essential role in the modern justicesystem and through the CAB, BLM’s volunteers provide private individuals withmuch needed support. 20
Manchester Manchester 10K 10 employees took part in the Manchester 10K raising £1745 Maggie’s Kitchen Table BLM partner Helen Devery attended a lunch in aid of Maggie’s Kitchen Table in July 2015. Maggie’s builds wonderful centres at cancer hospitals to support Great Manchester bake off for Macmillan Staff in Manchester raised over £130 for Macmillan with a Bake Off competition. The competition took place over seven weeks, with challenges including, biscuits, cakes and pastries with a free for all final to raise as much money as possible. The scores were totted up and at the end of the seven weeks, assistant team administrator,Wendy Wilson was crowned the champion, with Claire Chapman second and Mike Compston finishing third. Macmillan Week The team in Manchester dedicated an entire week to raising money for Macmillan, holding their own office style Olympics. Events included most holes punched in an A4 piece of paper in 30 seconds, most straight lines drawn on an A4 piece of paper in 30 seconds, first to find and highlight 5 chosen words in a document, first to correctly write a given word backwards and first to spot 6 spelling mistakes. Other activities included raffles, a bake off and dress down.21
Wood Street MissionThe team in Manchester supported Wood StreetMission at Christmas time by holding a raffle.The charitysupports local children and families in great difficulty.They also ran a toy and food collection and raised£1,274.90. In addition to the Christmas initiative, theteam also collected over 50 Easter eggs for the charityin April 2016.Adrenaline RushSome daring members of the Manchester team tookpart in Adrenaline Rush in August running an impressive5km – the team raised £1,708 for Macmillan.London to ParisBLM partner Roger Brooks cycled from London to Parisin September and raised £1,000 for Macmillan. 22
SouthamptonChildren in NeedBLM associate Chris Gambs is a keen runner anddecided to raise money for BBC Children in Need byrunning up and down the stairs at our Southamptonoffice during his lunch hour, in November 2015.Well done Chris.Please contact your local BLM CSR representativeif you have any questions about this report:Belfast/Derry Dublin [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Edinburgh & Glasgow [email protected]@blmlaw.com [email protected] [email protected]@blmlaw.com [email protected] [email protected] Liverpool [email protected]@blmlaw.com [email protected] SouthamptonCardiff [email protected] [email protected]@blmlaw.com London [email protected] 441.03.2016
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