The Newcastle office working in the community

18 Feb 2010

A team of 8 Solicitors and Trainees from the Newcastle office recently spent the day at the Percy Hedley Foundation, a local disability organisation, to help with a horticultural community project.

They enlisted the help from some students at the University of Northumbria and worked for a full day at the Northern Counties site (Jesmond), clearing an overgrown sensory area and repairing a broken block paved path.

Ruth Woodfine, Employability Project Manager, helped to coordinate the day: ‘The area we focused on used to be accessible for disabled students however had become unmanageable and difficult to maintain over the last few years.  Having this space made available to us once again will make such a difference.  Students will help choose and plant new shrubs for the area and will also be responsible for the ongoing maintenance.

As part of the project, the Newcastle team were offered the opportunity to tour the Northern Counties site, to learn more about the services provided by the Foundation for disabled people.

Jennifer Cawthorne, Associate Solicitor said: ‘This was the first community project I’ve organised in the area and I was delighted at the positive response from the Irwin Mitchell staff and university students alike.  We managed to complete the task given to us as well as meet staff and students from Percy Hedley.  It was a challenging day and hard work however we’re looking forward to our next project already!’

Despite the rain and a gruelling hard days work, the community project went really well, Northern counties sent out a press release where we were mentioned and we received positive feedback which has led to further projects in the future!

back