Life’s A Beach For Irwin Mitchell And Holy Trinity Team

By Suzanne Rutter

Youngsters armed with buckets and spades showed they were kings of their own castle at a special fundraising event supported by staff at law firm Irwin Mitchell.

A team of volunteers from Irwin Mitchell’s Newcastle office joined forces with two teams of children from Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School, based in Brockley Avenue in Newcastle, to take part in the 2013 Sandcastle Challenge, hosted by charity Children North East at Sandhaven Beach in South Shields.

The fun event, which sees more than 2,000 infant and junior schools pupils teamed with volunteers from businesses from across the region, challenged participants to recreate scenes from the Lindisfarne Gospels, an ancient Christian manuscript created by the community of St Cuthbert on Lindisfarne in the seventh century.

The Sandcastle Challenge and  the Sandcastle Ball helped to raise over £30,000 for Children North East.
Michelle Armstrong, a specialist clinical negligence lawyer from Irwin Mitchell who took part in the challenge, said: “The Sandcastle Challenge was a fantastic event and it was wonderful to see so many youngsters busy working so determinedly on their elaborate designs. It helped them learn a lot about the Lindisfarne Gospels while also having a lot of fun with their friends in the sunshine.

“At Irwin Mitchell we do a lot of work in the community for charities like Children North East who really help make a difference to the lives of young people throughout the region. It’s a charity we really believe in and we hope our involvement helped raise much needed awareness about the invaluable work they do as well as funds to support underprivileged children.”

Children North East is the region’s oldest independent children’s charity founded on the banks of the Tyne in 1891. Originally known as the Poor Children’s Holiday Association, children from inner city Newcastle and Gateshead were sent on ‘fresh air’ trips away from the grime and pollution of the city centre.

The charity now works with children, young people and their parents who are living in poverty or whose lives are disadvantaged due to ill-health, divorce, unemployment or those who are victims of crime.
Judges awarded the top prizes to youngsters from Bedlington West End First School, Cotherstone Primary School,East Rainton Primary School and Simonside Primary School who all received £200 for their design from GB Building Solutions, sponsors of the event.

Carol Taylor, a senior fundraiser for Children North East, said: “The Sandcastle Challenge is a way for us to remember the early days of charity and helps us raise funds to boost the work we do today.  With more than 132,000 children in the North East living below the poverty line we need support like this more than ever.

“It was fantastic to see so many youngsters and businesses roll up their sleeves, dig deep and build mountains of sandcastles inspired by our theme this year, the Lindisfarne Gospels.
“Thanks to firms like Irwin Mitchell the event was bigger and better than ever before and we are delighted to have raised so much money.”

Read more information about Irwin Mitchell’s work in the community.