Law firm Osborne Clarke has hired six interns in Bristol as part of a UK-wide campaign for companies to offer paid work experience to black graduates over five years.
The 10,000 Black Interns programme, which launched in 2020, seeks to offer 2,000 internships each year for five consecutive years. So far, the campaign has partnered with firms from 24 sectors. Corporate giants such as investment bank Credit Suisse, accountancy firm PwC and Zurich Insurance were among the first to sign up.
Osborne Clarke will host six interns in Bristol for six weeks as part of the programme - two in its corporate team, three in the IT and solutions teams, and one in HR. The firm has also recruited interns in its London and Reading offices (11 in total).
Each intern will have dedicated "buddies" to support them through their learning journey, Osborne Clarke said, while junior and senior mentors will provide guidance on how the interns can develop their careers. According to the law firm, the mentors will maintain their relationship with each intern and plan monthly catch-up meetings throughout the programme and afterwards.
Bola Gibson, head of inclusion and corporate responsibility, said: "We hope that this programme really inspires the participants and means we can make some progress in growing the representation of black people in Osborne Clarke and other professional services businesses."
Zoe Reid, graduate recruitment manager at Osborne Clarke, said the programme presented "a great opportunity" to help the firm develop and broaden the talent pool it recruits from.
"We're offering our legal interns that are in year three of their university courses the opportunity to undertake the assessment process and apply for a training contract with the firm," she said.
Osborne Clarke said it was providing all legal and non-legal interns with recruitment and employability training, with the legal interns spending a week gaining experience in the in-house team of one of the firm's clients.
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