This article was written by Helena Sewell.
One of the things that drew me to Burges Salmon was its involvement in the local community and charitable initiatives. Therefore, when it was announced that the firm was going to run “Burges Salmon Does the Masked Singer” as its Christmas Charity Fundraiser, I was really excited to get involved.
What is it?
For those who aren’t familiar with the concept, The Masked Singer is a TV show which originated in South Korea. It involves famous singers and/or celebrities dressing up in extravagant costumes, performing a a song (often using a disguised voice), and a panel of judges trying to identify who the singer is based on their performance and some clever clues.
The Burges Salmon version included performers from across the firm, who dressed up in costumes and performed a song. Due to the COVID pandemic, the event was held in a hybrid format, with a panel of judges and a small audience trying to guess the performers’ identities in person, and the rest of the firm enjoying the event and providing suggestions via a live video feed from home.
How to get involved
Trainees are often given the responsibility (and the privilege!) of being heavily involved in organising and supporting the firm’s charitable events. This year, there was a choice between organising the charity auction (which closed on the night of the event) or being assigned to a brave singer and helping them prepare for the event.
I chose to be assigned to a singer, and was matched up with Zia Duval, an Advisor in our People team. I hadn’t met Zia before, so it was a brilliant way to get to know her as we worked together to prepare clues about her identity, teaser videos which were released firm wide, and the song that she would perform on the night. Zia’s identity had to be kept a complete secret in the run up to the event, so we held clandestine Teams planning calls and in-person props handovers when colleagues weren’t looking. I even dressed up in Zia’s costume to shoot teaser videos when she wasn’t able to attend!
Why get involved?
Charitable fundraising is a really important part of the firm’s ethos and everyone is encouraged to get involved. The event and accompanying auction raised a massive £15,603 in aid of Feeding Bristol, one of the wonderful charities supported as part of our charitable theme, No Child Goes Hungry.
In addition, the fundraiser was a great way to work with lots of my fellow trainees and provided the chance to get to know people from around the firm who I hadn’t met before.
Ultimately, it was also a lot of fun. I would thoroughly recommend getting involved in the firm’s charity events to both current and incoming trainees!