Community: Volunteering
Over the past year, we have taken some time to re-evaluate our activities that benefit the community and focus on the themes of young people and education.
This has involved re-igniting some activities that our staff enjoy, but that also provide longer-term impact for those organisations that we work for, including our charity partners.
One of these involves our partnership with the Early Learning Initiative at the National College of Ireland. We were delighted to engage in a pilot programme on Restorative Practice with young people participating in the Discover University programme in June. Our own in-house PRIME work experience programme for young people from socio-economically challenged areas also took place in-person again this year. We were pleased to have facilitated this programme thanks to almost 30 members of staff who ensured the success of the programme which took place over three weeks during the academic year 2023/24.
We also took the opportunity this year to trial team volunteering days that expanded our usual pool of community volunteering organisations, but also served as team building exercises.
Case Study
The Early Learning Initiative
We have continued our long-term volunteering partnership with The Early Learning Initiative (ELI) at National College of Ireland (NCI) in 2023-24. Our volunteers supported ELI’s Discover University programme – a week-long college-taster experience to encourage young people from Dublin's inner city to continue their education and consider third level education options. Our volunteers participated in ‘A Day in the Life’ round table careers events and acted as Judges at the Project Showcase and Graduation event. We were also delighted to see the return of a pilot exercise in relation to the "Opening the Door" programme which introduces young people and volunteers to the principles of Restorative Practices, along with practical tools for using a restorative approach in their daily life.
“We are deeply appreciative of Arthur Cox’s sustainable and significant support and would like to acknowledge your role in expanding ELI from 400 participants in 2008 to over 16,000 in 2023. Arthur Cox has supported children and young people to grow their love of learning and explore the bright possibilities the future holds for their education, career and life. You have ensured that vulnerable children and young people will have the language, social, literacy and numeracy skills to succeed in education, and that they are growing up in a positive nurturing home learning environment, where they can thrive.”
Dr Josephine Bleach, Director, The Early Learning Initiative at The National College of Ireland
'Day of Service' Volunteering
Building a strong sense of team connection and spirit is important to our firm. Very often, doing activities together outside of the everyday office environment can not only be very enjoyable to all those involved, but it can also be a great opportunity to give back to the community, by providing some service to organisations in the charity sector that need assistance.
Our Litigation Department held a ‘Day of Service’ to help four different charities/community organisations as part of their team building away day. A team worked with Friends of the Elderly Ireland to run a social club for the day, assisting with storytelling, letter writing, dancing, singing and lunch. At St Anne’s City Farm & Ecology Centre, a team spent the day cleaning out stables and chicken coops, while also doing some weeding and animal grooming. At Seal Rescue Ireland, the group travelled to Wexford to muck out, clean and disinfect a seal rescue enclosure while caring for the injured seals. This was followed by a beach clean. At D8 Food Bank on Meath Street the fourth group prepared and organised food supplies for over 100 people who attended the clinic.
