Corporate Social Responsibility

We are incredibly proud of where we’re from and to be part of the community around us.

As a result, Swinburne Maddison is firmly committed to contributing to the progress, development and wellbeing of the North East’s businesses, organisations and communities. Not only through the legal advice and services we provide, but also by offering sponsorship, supporting events and encouraging the individual efforts of our dedicated colleagues.

Here are some of the ways we have been helping to make a difference lately.

Community

Our staff often come together to raise money for local charities in innovative ways, whether this be through office “bake-offs” or charity pamper evenings in collaboration with students from the local college. We currently support two charities each year. We have been a long-standing supporter of St Cuthbert’s Hospice (a local hospice to Durham) and will continue to support them for the foreseeable future. Our second supported charity is selected at random from a shortlist compiled by staff suggestions on an annual basis. We also support other organisations throughout the year, including Durham Food Bank.

The firm also participates in a range of volunteer programmes, including:-

‘Intern: NE’, a programme launched by St Chad’s College at Durham University in response to the challenges imposed on regional businesses by ‘the brain drain’. The purpose of the scheme is to alter the perception of many of its students that they can only launch or progress their careers by moving to the South East. The hope is that a promising graduate who has engaged with a North East business through an internship during their studies is more likely to consider working in the region after graduation. In the summer of 2018, we were fortunate to provide an internship to a very promising student, who was studying for a BA in International Relations and had just completed her first year.

The ‘Aspiring Professionals Programme’ which was established by the Social Mobility Foundation (SMF) in an effort to try and open up professions for those with the ability to join them in the future, but without the means or networks to get there. By offering an internship to some of the SMF’s qualifying candidates, we hope to offer people a real insight into the legal profession and to provide them with some of the skills and experience needed to help them achieve their aspirations.

Environment

We aim to ensure that we minimise our impact on the environment on a day-to-day basis within the business by:-

recycling plastic, glass and tin waste through the use of recycling bins within the office and a contract with a local recycling contractor;
recycling paper and cardboard, including confidential waste, through our shredding facility with a local company;
where possible, repairing our electrical equipment rather than disposing of it;
ensuring that plain waste paper is utilised as scrap note pads rather than being disposed of;
ensuring that all electrical equipment is turned off rather than left on stand-by; and
recycling toners and ink cartridges through the Great North Air Ambulance which also provides that charity with valuable funds.

Sponsorship

We are committed to supporting the development and well-being of regional businesses and the local community and regularly sponsor events in Durham such as Lumiere and the Book Festival. As well as providing legal advice to Durham Cathedral, the firm is a long standing corporate partner.

Sporting Events

We also sponsor local sporting clubs, including the Durham Sunday Football League, the Durham Amateur Swimming Club, Durham City Rugby Football Union Club, Durham City Cricket Club and local youth athletics event, The Durham Dash.

Details of the Swinburne Maddison LLP CSR Policy can be found by clicking here.