---

Blackhall Place hub of endeavour for good causes

Blackhall Place PPC trainees have been busy with volunteering and fundraising efforts during their time at the Law Society this semester.

On 3 December, the PPC Connect Committee held a Christmas Carol Service and Christmas Jumper Party charity fundraiser in the Law School Vanilla café.

The fundraiser was in aid of Barnardos and Merchant’s Quay Ireland, and trainees were delighted to raise over €500.

Reading programme 

The Stanhope Street Reading Programme allows Law Society students to give back to the local community and to have a positive impact on the lives of the students at Stanhope Street Primary School.

For half an hour each Tuesday morning, PPC trainees visit the school’s first-class students and help them with their reading.

This usually ends with the pupils giving a wonderful rendition of one of their favourite classroom songs. 

Shoebox appeal 

In November, Lauren Humphries of the PPC Connect Committee ran a Christmas shoebox appeal in aid of Team Hope which deliver gifts to children affected by poverty in Africa and Eastern Europe.

This year over 20 shoeboxes were donated by PPC trainees.

Irish Red Cross 

Over six weeks, Blackhall trainees assisted on two Irish Red Cross (IRC) projects.

Trainees were asked to draft easy-to-read policy documents in relation to the use of vehicles IRC medical and non-medical in the context of their use in the IRC local-links project.

Trainees also drafted easy-to-follow flyers on aspects of law in Ireland such as employment, child protection, road traffic, and landlord-and-tenant law for newly-arrived Ukrainian refugees. 

Irish Rule of Law International 

Blackhall trainees also helped Irish Rule of Law International with projects across multiple jurisdictions. The four teams are assisting with:

• Improving access to justice in Malawi and strengthening institutional capacity throughout the country's justice system,
• Assisting police and the judiciary in Tanzania to improve handling of child sex abuse cases,
• Working on Transitional Justice arrangements with a focus on Somalia,
•  Providing research advice on the treatment of child witnesses and witness statements to the Zambian National Prosecution Authority. 

Just Ask 

Just Ask is a community-led and community-run inner city after-school club for children from schools in the surrounding areas.

Trainees who have some free time in the afternoons visit the club, where the students get a warm meal, play games, do arts and crafts, and do homework. 

Street Law 

Every year, in partnership with DEIS schools in Dublin, the Law Society assigns pairs of trainee solicitors to a school to teach approximately six classes on areas of law of their choosing.

This programme is inspired by the original 1972 scheme launched by Georgetown Law students in America, which has spread worldwide and aims to educate secondary school students about the law and their rights. John Lunney and Keith Kierans oversee the Law Society Street Law programme.

Care pack initiative 

This year the Law School got involved with the Care Pack initiative.

Care Pack is a volunteer-led organisation that runs a kindness campaign, connecting residents in nursing homes and care homes with members of the public who will send them a gift for Christmas.  

Hygiene Hub

This year the PPC Connect Committee teamed up with Hygiene Hub, a charity that collects hygiene products.

A box in the Law School yielded a great response! Hygiene Hub then distributed the donations to their community partners to help those in need this Christmas.