• Tue. Dec 9th, 2025

North East Connected

Hopping Across The North East From Hub To Hub

Muckle LLP champions sustainability through employee volunteering scheme

Community-Forest-950From left: chair of the NECF, Ross Weddle, Greenstart trainee at the NECF, Iryna Orshak, director of HR at Muckle LLP, Nicola Leyden, senior business support officer at the NECF, Herman Parkhomenko. Second row from left: HR manager at Muckle LLP, Abbey Hogg and community advisor at the NECF, Bethan Kelly

Muckle LLP, a leading law firm in the North East, continues to demonstrate its commitment to helping local communities through its ongoing support of a regional sustainability charity.  

Over the past year, Muckle has partnered with The North East Community Forest (NECF), a local charity that works with volunteers and landowners to plant trees and create new woodlands across the region.  

To encourage employees to use their volunteering hours, Muckle donates £1 to NECF for every hour volunteered. So far, the firm has donated £1,680 to the charity – the equivalent of planting 336 new trees. 

Muckle’s employees receive two days paid leave to volunteer with charities and its lawyers are also encouraged to use their legal expertise to support the community as school governors, trustees and board members of local charities.  

The work carried out by NECF not only helps make the region become more resilient to climate change but also fosters a greater appreciation for trees and woodlands by engaging the people in the North East in environmental conservation.  

Muckle has always been committed to its ESG work including working with SmartCarbon to accurately capture its carbon footprint, as well as delivering other environmental initiatives such as hosting its own clothes swap in aid of local charities.  

As a result of this ongoing work, in 2024, Muckle became the first law firm in the North East and Cumbria to achieve B Corporation® accreditation, building on the impact it has already achieved through its ESG initiatives.  

Ross Weddle, Chair of the North East Community Forest, said: “Business supporters like Muckle LLP make a real difference to the North East Community Forest. Their contribution doesn’t just plant trees—it helps us unlock matched government funding through the Trees for Climate programme, meaning every pound goes further. Support like this enables us to create greener streets, plant hedgerows, and establish new woodlands across our region. Together, we’re growing a healthier, more resilient North East for generations to come.” 

Nicola Leyden, Director of HR at Muckle, said: “As a responsible business caring for our local communities and environment has always been at the heart of everything we do. Through our charity partnership with NECF we are demonstrating our commitment to our ESG goals and showing how we can make a real difference. 

“Our volunteer hours donation scheme is a natural extension of our commitment to sustainable business and community engagement. By linking our people’s time to meaningful impact, we’re helping grow our region’s green future together.” 

To find out more about Muckle ESG strategies, visit: https://www.muckle-llp.com/about-us/environmental-social-governance/