Society staff net a profit for Kenya
They’re better known for work involving courts of law, but the Law Society of Scotland’s staff took to the netball court last weekend at an event which raised £1,200 for families in Kenya.
It’s the third year in a row that the Society has taken part in the annual ‘Netball For Kenya’ tournament, with the money raised this year going towards medicine, school fees and food for the people of the Shaori Moyo slum in Nairobi.
The Society’s team was made up of members of staff, as well as players from law firm DLA Piper and other willing volunteers.
The ‘Kenya Feel The Love Tonight’ team, featuring staff from the Law Society of Scotland. From left to right: Jaimie Wolbers, Kim Atkinson, Sean Callery, David Meighan (lying down), Sarah Jane Scott, Russell Whyte, Marina Sinclair Chin, Georgie Millyard, Victoria Kimber, Matthew Jack, Katie Wood, Martin Wood.
While charity was the day’s big winner, sadly the Society’s team ended up collecting the tournament’s wooden spoon. It wasn’t for a lack of effort, however, and despite featuring a number of netball rookies, they gave several more experienced teams a run for their money.
Katie Wood from the Law Society of Scotland said: ‘Our netball skills may not have set the world on fire, but we certainly enjoyed ourselves and gave it a good shot.
‘Next year we’re hoping to avoid the wooden spoon, although our collection of kitchenware is becoming impressive, having taken away that dubious honour for the last three years. The staff here are always keen to get involved in events like this and to raise money for good causes. We were delighted to be involved on the day and to help raise cash for people in Nairobi.’
Netball For Kenya, which is in its seventh year, has raised over £11,000 and has previously helped fund efforts to support people displaced from their homes by tribal violence, buy plots of land for people to build new homes, and support a number of small-scale projects in the town of Kericho.
Mo Rooney, organiser of the Netball For Kenya tournament, said: ‘We were delighted with how the tournament went this year and the amount of money that was raised for families in need in the Shaori Moyo slum in Nairobi. The standard of netball was really high and while it was certainly competitive, it was still very much a fun day for all.
'We’d like to thank the guys from the Law Society and everyone else who took part and helped raise money. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone again next year.’
As well as supporting individual events and charities like Netball For Kenya, every year the Society chooses a staff charity to work with and raise money for, often bringing together lawyers from all over Scotland to help the cause. This year the Society is working with homeless charity Fresh Start, while last year over £9,000 was raised for Guide Dogs.
Action from the Netball For Kenya tournament which raised £1,200 for families in Nairobi.