Hempsons “Living our Values”
In 2021 we established our new Living Our Values Group from among our staff to ensure that our vision and values are at the core of all that Hempsons does. The group coordinates a joined up approach towards improving Community Engagement, Diversity and inclusion/wellbeing and having a more positive impact on the environment (a revamped, broader vision to CSR).
Our charitable and volunteering efforts are centred around the following themes:
Community engagement
We are working to increase our engagement with the local communities around each of our offices in Harrogate, London, Manchester, Newcastle and Southampton. We support a wide range of local causes, both charities and social enterprises.
Within or across offices we hold fundraising and awareness-raising events to support and promote the work of organisations that share our values. We have an overall theme of improving diversity and equality through our Community Engagement work.
Diversity and inclusion/wellbeing
Our Living Our Values Group examines ways to improve inclusivity including links with state education providers local to each office (e.g. Northumbria University for our Newcastle office) and through mentoring schemes such as Pathways to Law (an initiative established by the University of Law and the Sutton Trust to support state school students from under-represented backgrounds to pursue legal careers).
We have developed an apprentice recruitment programme for graduate solicitor apprentices which aims to enable applicants from non-traditional educational backgrounds to gain legal professional qualifications, which they might not otherwise be able to fund. We also have apprenticeships within our support services.
Environmental
We are committed to meeting our compliance, legal and regulatory obligations to protect the environment directly through our own initiatives and services and indirectly using our influence to affect the practices of others. Our environmental management system, which is accredited against the internationally recognised ISO 14001:2015 environmental management standard, helps us to enhance our environmental performance.
Hempsons has participated in the NHS Evergreen Sustainable Supplier Assessment pilot scheme. This was an opportunity to engage with the NHS on the requirements of the NHS net zero supplier roadmap which aligns with Hempsons net zero commitment and journey.
We also encourage our staff to get involved with activities with an environmental theme. For example, we have recently sponsored the planting of trees in the NHS Forest.