Michelle Hall, Catherine Dennison, Richard Jeffries from Addleshaw Goddard and Donna Green

LAW firm, Addleshaw Goddard's third annual Big Week Out volunteering event focused this year on delivering real value to local community groups by helping them to develop their business skills.

In Leeds, over 30 projects took place during the three week event.
As part of the Big Week Out, a group of single parents spent the day at Addleshaw Goddard's office to gain valuable insights into the world of working. The parents were invited to experience a range of roles in facilities, business administration and catering and hospitality.

A collection of Addleshaw Goddard secretaries will be making a return visit to Learning Partnership's offices to speak to the group and a wider audience about their experiences of juggling childcare with a full time job.

Catherine Dennison, 33, from Swinnow, and who has a 13 year old daughter, attended the day in order to find out more about working in the legal profession. Catherine's last job before taking a career break to raise her daughter was as a lunchtime assistant at the local school.

Commenting about the day, Catherine said; "It has been a fantastic day and a thoroughly worthwhile experience. Everyone who I came into contact with at Addleshaw Goddard was so friendly and I'm really grateful to Leeds Learning Partnerships for organising this opportunity.

"The day has boosted my confidence in my ability to work in a large successful firm and it has really motivated me to find work in a similar office environment.'

Ray O'Connor, Learning and Development advisor at Addleshaw Goddard, said;
"We are delighted to be able to offer this job shadowing project to help people working with Leeds Learning Partnerships who are seeking to return to the workplace.

"The project demonstrates that Leeds businesses can supplement their existing community work by helping to create opportunities which have a positive and sustainable impact on those who take part. Sharing skills and experience is a vital part of helping others to develop the confidence to achieve their ambition."

Big Week Out is the brainchild of Addleshaw Goddard's CSR manager, Marcus Jamieson-Pond who said; "The projects on this year's Big Week Out reflect a real progression for the programme and the kind of support we can offer local communities. We are delighted to still be doing physical tasks such as painting and gardening and these are very popular with our volunteers, but it is also significant that the event has developed to include projects where we can add real value to community groups and charities by sharing our skills and knowledge."

The event was run with Leeds Learning Partnership as part of their 'New Opportunity Experience' course, a programme aimed to support lone parents who are considering returning to work or training. The day was also organised to coincide with National Learning at Work Day, an annual awareness campaign, promoting and supporting learning events across England.

Addleshaw Goddard and Leeds Learning Partnerships have recently been awarded a 'Creating Better Futures' award, by Yorkshire Forward, for their work together.

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