About Halliwells

Corporate Social Responsibility

Trainee Team Building Day

It was all about helping wildlife to thrive in North Manchester when over 100 of our current and future trainee solicitors took part in the firm’s biggest training initiative of its kind.

The team building and environmental project took place at Boggart Hole Clough, a countryside area set amongst North Manchester’s rows of houses. The day brought together existing and future trainees from our offices throughout the country in a bid to improve connectivity between the firm and our future solicitors.

“We want them to feel part of the firm from the day they are offered their contracts to the day they set foot in the office,” explained Paul Rose, partner and head of training.

Encouraging wildlife

Working with council wardens, our trainee teams spent the day making habitats to encourage more wildlife species into the area, removing Himalayan Balsam and Rhododendron ponticum to help the biodiversity of the area and generally tidying up the countryside.

“It was a great day for team building and it also introduced our future trainees to their colleagues in an informal, relaxed setting,” said training and development officer Frances Nicholson who organised the day.

“When I trained as a solicitor I found my first few days rather daunting due to the lack of contact with both the firm and future colleagues prior to the contract commencing.

A day like this ensures we integrate future trainees with current trainees at a very early stage.”

Paul Rose echoed Frances’ views and added: “We are keen to invest in our trainees from the very earliest opportunity and are committed to staying in touch with them in the two years between recruitment and the start of their training contract. Initiatives such as this are great for team building and even better for the local environment.”

Team leaders

The teams on the day were led by the six team leaders; Meenaxi Mawji, Luke Johnson, Claire Chadwick, Lisa Boggiano, Helen Rawcliffe and Chris Gawn, with Chris’ team picking up the top prize on the day for the most impressive performance.

The day was arranged with the help of Business in the Community and in connection with our own Legal Practice Course (LPC+), which is run in conjunction with the College of Law. Halliwells is one of the first law firms in the country to run its own Legal Practice Course.

All the teams rounded off the day with an awards evening at the City Inn Hotel, Manchester.

Winning words

The day after the night before, we caught up with winning team leader Chris Gawn. He told us that, although everyone was exhausted, it had been a rewarding experience.

Said Chris: “As we were working, some of the locals came to ask us what we were doing and they seemed genuinely grateful to us for taking the time to make these improvements to the area. The park rangers also seemed grateful and impressed with how hard we worked and how much we achieved in one day.

“In terms of team work, everyone pulled together and gave it their all.”