A&O announces Street Child as new Global Charity Partner following firm-wide vote
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Street Child has been selected by partners and employees from across the network to become A&O’s new Global Charity Partner. Nearly 2,500 people from almost every office took part in the vote. The partnership, which is focused on social mobility, will formally launch in September 2021 and run until 31 July 2023. It follows A&O’s hugely successful relationship with Hope and Homes for Children, due to close at the end of this month.
The goal of the partnership is to raise GBP1 million and provide significant pro bono support, drawing upon the skills of the firm’s legal and business teams globally. GBP500,000 will be spent enrolling 1,500 girls in school in Sierra Leone, and helping their families grow their businesses so they can afford to keep them there. Most of the girls will be the first in their family to reach secondary education. For every year a girl completes of secondary education, they enhance their lifetime earnings by 25%. A child born to a literate mother has a 50% greater chance of living to the age of five. The charity will also build schools in 40 remote villages.
The money raised beyond GBP500,000 will be spent on an ‘opportunity for impact’ basis, for example to leverage other funding or in response to situations that are under-resourced.
Social mobility has been a priority for the firm for many years, with almost all of our offices around the world delivering projects to increase access to education and employment for young people. It’s great to be putting more focus on the topic through our Global Charity Partnership, and I’m looking forward to working with colleagues from across A&O to support Street Child over the next two years.
Wim Dejonghe
Tom Dannatt, Founder and CEO of Street Child, said, “Thank you to everyone at Allen & Overy for choosing Street Child! We couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to work together to create life changing impact for children in Sierra Leone and for Street Child’s work globally. We can’t wait to get started this September.”
If you’d like to find out more about the partnership please contact Daisy Wakefield.
