Sheffield’s Taylor&Emmet LLP is playing a pivotal role in a forthcoming sponsored walk to raise funds for local legal advice services.
Clinical negligence solicitor, Samantha Sims, is part of the organising committee for the 2021 Sheffield Legal Walk and she is being joined at the event by around 20 of her colleagues.
The walk is being held to raise funds for organisations that support those who need legal help, but cannot afford it, in order to improve access to justice for the most vulnerable in society.
Held on June 24 at 5.30pm, the 10km trek will wind its way through Sheffield, starting at the law courts on West Bar and taking in picturesque Endcliffe Park and the Botanical Gardens, before finishing at OHM in Sheffield’s West One Plaza.
The team from Taylor&Emmet will be joined on the walk by fellow solicitors, barristers, local judges, universities and other legal professionals from across the city. It will also have a number of lead walkers, including Lisa Haythorne, president of Sheffield and District Law Society, the region’s High Sheriff and Under Sheriff, Martin McKervey and Colonel George Kilburn, District Judge Robinson and Natalie Cosgrove, president of the Yorkshire Union of Law Societies.
The Sheffield legal community will be raising money for Yorkshire Legal Support Trust and the Access to Justice Foundation, which benefits charities that provide free advice on issues, such as debt, housing, family law, domestic abuse and employment. Demand for free advice centres has increased recently, whilst the funding they receive has reduced. They prevent families being made homeless and help older people access support, whilst also assisting women and children who have been trafficked for domestic servitude or prostitution.
Organiser, Sam, is involved with the event through her work with Sheffield Junior Lawyers Division where she sits on the committee. She is being assisted by two Taylor&Emmet trainee solicitors, Martha O’Toole and Amy Parsons, who are helping to rally participants, ratify the route and organise a raffle to raise further funds.
Sam said: “We are looking forward to the Sheffield Legal Walk next month after the event was unable to go ahead in 2020 due to Covid. It returns at a critical time for the advice sector, which is dealing with unprecedented demand caused by the pandemic, exacerbated by a lack of resources and staff to deal with enquiries. I am really pleased so many of my Taylor&Emmet colleagues are supporting this fantastic cause. It will be a really lovely event after an incredibly difficult year. Let’s hope the weather is kind to us!”
