Dolmans involvement in the Community leads to a date with The Prince
Dolmans involvement in the Community leads to a date with The Prince
Being a partner at Dolmans is not simply about giving legal advice. Over the last year, Alison Henders-Green has, visited a Cardiff Inner City school, led a law workshop for 13 to 14 year olds, and reported back to HRH the Prince of Wales.
Alison was one of 15 business people who participated in The Prince’s “Seeing is Believing” visit in Cardiff.
The “Seeing is Believing” programme was established by HRH the Prince of Wales in conjunction with Business in the Community. A “Seeing is Believing” visit invites senior business people to see for themselves how businesses can play a role in tackling Britain's most pressing social issues, in some of its most deprived inner city and rural areas.
The visit which Alison attended was focussed on identifying talent and improving skills in inner city areas of Cardiff.
As part of this visit, Alison and other members of the business community attended Fitzalan High School and heard a talk from pupils about an event that they had organised called “Building our Futures”. The event took place at the Wales Millennium Centre and was aimed at showcasing the pupils’ skills to potential employers through a series of seminars designed and presented by the pupils. The pupils’ underlying concern was that businesses would be deterred from employing them because of where they lived/the school that they attended.
Following the visit, 8 businesses ran employment workshops at the school which were aimed at giving pupils a better appreciation of what the world of work involved. Alison agreed to lead the law workshop and was helped by two other Dolmans’ employees: Trainee Solicitor, Adam Fotheringham, and Assistant Solicitor, Teleri Davies.
Introducing 13-14 year olds to a career in the law was not without its difficulties given its academic base and diversity of career pathways. Therefore, in order to give the pupils a greater insight of the legal profession the workshop was divided into two sessions: the first session was a multiple choice quiz aimed at challenging the myths of working in the legal profession, to explain to pupils that not all legal roles are well paid, getting a job is highly competitive, and a day in the office is not like an episode of Ally McBeal! During the second session pupils were given problem solving exercises which were aimed at introducing the pupils to the key skills required in any legal role; reviewing information, working under pressure and problem solving.
The event was certainly challenging both for the pupils and the Dolmans’ team. Alison, Teleri and Adam all agreed that standing in front of 60 inquisitive 13-14 year olds was as demanding as giving legal seminars or appearing in Court. However, all three enjoyed the event and the opportunity to experience at first hand an afternoon in the classroom.
The workshop gave the pupils a valuable insight into some of the realities of working as a lawyer especially from the personal experiences of three lawyers at different stages in their careers. It also dispelled some of the reservations expressed by the pupils that business such as law firms would not be interested in them purely because of the area they were from, or the school which they attended.
The workshop took place in July and Alison was invited to assist in preparing and presenting a report to HRH the Prince of Wales at the Prince’s Carmarthen Residence in October.
This “Seeing is Believing” visit gave Dolmans and other members of the business community in South Wales an invaluable experience and the means to contribute to the community at large outside the parameters of their normal commercial actives. HRH the Prince of Wales is an extremely keen advocate of this programme and having participated in it we can understand why and the satisfaction that he takes from seeing the commercial sector being more interactive in this way.
Business in the Community in Cardiff can be contacted at:
2nd Floor, Riverside House, 31 Cathedral Road, Cardiff CF11 9HB
Tel: 029 2078 0050 / Fax: 029 2023 5116