DLA Piper Scotland team treks the Simien mountains for UNICEF

Edinburgh-based partners Callum Sinclair and Hazel Moffat along with associate Emma Peveril joined colleagues from DLA Piper’s offices around the world to take part in the trek which began in Addis Ababa on 2 October.

After leaving Addis Ababa, the team of 40 then moved to Gonder, a small city at the foot of the Simien Mountains, before embarking on the four-day trek.

They walked for up to ten hours a day and covered close to 7000 metres to reach the summit at Mount Bwahit standing at 4,430m above sea level.

The trek forms part of DLA Piper’s global partnership with UNICEF, with whom the firm has been working since 2013 to strengthen the protection of children around the world.

Over the course of the partnership over 9000 hours of pro bono work, across 35 offices worldwide and USD 1 million have been donated. The majority of funds have gone to supporting child protection projects in Bangladesh.

Simon Levine, global co-CEO at DLA Piper, said: “We are immensely proud that colleagues from around the world have shown such incredible team spirit to complete one of the largest ever corporate fundraising events of its kind.

“The Simien Mountains trek is a first for DLA Piper and the legal sector as a whole.”

Lucy Scallan, head of partnerships development at UNICEF UK, said: “It was an absolute pleasure to accompany the group on the trek. What an amazing team! We are so grateful for their fundraising efforts that will help UNICEF to protect hundreds of children in Bangladesh through the creation of a child-friendly justice system. Thank you and congratulations to everyone involved. They can all feel incredibly proud.”

Callum Sinclair, partner in DLA Piper’s Edinburgh office, said: “The Trek was a truly incredible experience all round. We raised over £150,000 for UNICEF and child justice in Bangladesh, and in doing so we were humbled not only by breathtaking vistas and the hospitality of our Ethiopian hosts, but by the spirit of our truly international team that saw every one of us complete the trek and reach the summit - a first for a corporate group we are told. A trip that will live long in our memories!”