Our Approach to Corporate Responsibility
At Teacher Stern we take our role in the community seriously. We are committed to being a responsible business and to ensuring that we operate in a socially conscious and an environmentally sustainable manner. As such, corporate social responsibility (“CSR”) is at the forefront of our thinking and our everyday working practices.
Our CSR team is comprised of people from all aspects of the firm creating an enthusiastic and imaginative team of people that are passionate about making a difference in the community. The team meets regularly to share ideas, plan events and provide feedback on how we as a firm are performing.
Our CSR team focuses on the following core values:
- Having a positive impact on our local community
- Being environmentally sustainable
- Promoting diversity
Community
Each year Teacher Stern raises money for chosen charities that align with our values and aid our local community. From running to baking, donating, and giving, the team is busy each year supporting our corporate charities.
Our charity this year is…
- Aims to prevent homelessness and help vulnerable and socially excluded people to transform their lives and move into independence.
- Provides preventative support to those at risk of homelessness, accommodation to the homeless through their network of over 90 hostels, as well as education, training and employability programmes to promote wellbeing and enhance opportunities.
- Every year the work SHP does directly supports 10,000 people every year, across London, from single people to families, young people to adults.
Previous charities include:
Supporting bereaved children and their families to help alleviate the pain caused by the death of someone close.
Every year members of the firm take part in the London Legal Walk, a 10k event that raises funds to support free legal advice charities in London and the South East. The sponsorship money raised by each walker goes towards helping some of the poorest and most vulnerable members of society gain access to justice.
Other Events
Other events have been held to support World Cancer Day, Comic Relief, Empire Faith War Exhibition hosted by SOAS, MacMillan Coffee Mornings, Great Ormond St Hospital and Medicines Sans Frontiers.
Volunteering
Many members of our firm also volunteer their time in a number of different ways – from Santa runs to marathons, triathlons, cake bakes and hikes. Others provide career advice to those seeking to establish a legal career, and speak in a number of schools, law schools and universities.
Members of our employment team provide pro bono legal advice to Great Ormond Street.
Educating
We are proud participants and supporters of the Career Academy’s ‘Career Ready’ programme. The ‘Career Ready’ programme offers mentoring and paid work experience to 16-19 year old students giving them access to the workplace and helping them to develop the skills they will need to succeed. It gives the students valuable insight into the way our business works and gives them the opportunity to engage with us in a professional environment to increase their chances of securing a good job or place at university. We have taken part in this programme for a number of years now and have found it to be thoroughly rewarding.
Environment
Our environmental strategy recognises the impact our business has on the environment and we are committed to encouraging our staff and, wherever possible, our clients to minimise the impact of our activities on the environment. We recognise that, collectively, we can make a difference.
The key practices we adopt in implementing our strategy include:
- minimising waste by evaluating our day-to-day operations to ensure they are as efficient and environmentally friendly as practicable;
- maintaining ‘paperless’ files where suitable to do so;
- recycling waste paper, glass and cardboard;
- sourcing and promoting product ranges that have a reduced environmental impact from both production and distribution; and
- meeting and endeavouring to exceed applicable environmental legislation.
Diversity
Teacher Stern is committed to promoting diversity both through our activities at work, and in the community in which we are based. We have a robust diversity policy and all staff members undertake training to ensure that our principles are understood and endorsed.
In order to maintain and ensure our firm’s diversity we:
- recruit from the widest possible talent pool;
- employ training and career progression practices that foster a consistent diversity mix throughout our firm;
- communicate and practice, internally and externally, the principles of the diversity policy that we have developed;
- monitor diversity levels and published diversity statistics; and
- proactively engage with diversity organisations to help improve diversity in the workplace.
We have an ongoing commitment to identify barriers to widening diversity within our firm and constantly reflect on how a more diverse workforce will benefit our firm and its clients.
