Staff At Law Firm’s Chichester Office Raise £6,000

Dementia Support is set to benefit from a record £6,000 donation from Irwin Mitchell’s Chichester office, after staff at the firm spent a year raising funds for the good cause.

Dementia Support was voted for by staff at the office to be their Charity of the Year for 2017 as part of a nationwide initiative established by the Irwin Mitchell Charities Foundation (IMCF). The charity will continue to be the office’s Charity of the Year for 2018, having been voted by colleagues once again.

Established in 1997, IMCF is an independent registered charity set up by the firm which has donated more than £1.6 million to third sector organisations.

Following 12 months of fundraising activities, including a campaign to raise £20,000 in a month to celebrate IMCF’s 20th anniversary, nationally, the law firm raised a record £180,000 during 2017. In doing so, the majority of the firm’s regional offices, including Chichester, smashed their own fundraising records in the process.

The bumper donation, which is £4,500 more than staff raised in 2016, will help Dementia Support further enhance the wellbeing and quality of life for local people in West Sussex living with dementia. In particular Dementia Support expects to open the new Dementia Hub in Tangmere this year providing services and support from one local centre to those living with dementia.

Irwin Mitchell also donated a £100 gift to the charity which went towards buying musical instruments for Dementia Support’s wellbeing activities.

Nicki Clarke, fundraising and communications co-ordinator at Dementia Support, said: “We were thrilled to be Irwin Mitchell’s Charity of the Year 2017 and very pleased it will be supporting us in 2018. All money raised by Irwin Mitchell last year will go towards helping us ensure our services and facilities are available to as many of the estimated 14,820 people across the county living with dementia as possible.”

Irwin Mitchell’s £6,000 donation will help support people like Sylvia Worden who cares for her husband Bill who has Alzheimer’s. Sylvia said: “As a main carer I know how badly this facility is needed. Somewhere to obtain information and help under one roof will be so much appreciated. I have gleaned information from magazines, family and friends and one named advisor would have helped us so much.”

Paula James, regional managing partner at Irwin Mitchell’s Chichester office, said:

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“It’s an honour to be able to provide this record donation to a truly fantastic cause in our local community.

“Last year we celebrated 20 years of the IMCF and I am delighted that thanks to the creativity and generosity of Irwin Mitchell employees, we made our anniversary year a record breaking one.

“Everyone at IM is passionate about giving back to the communities we operate in and making a real difference to the lives of those supported by our Charities of the Year.

“We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved last year. Hearing how Dementia Support is going to use the donation, and the positive impact that will have on people living with the condition, is spurring on our staff to think of bigger and better ways to fundraise for the charity once again this year.” Paula James - Partner & National Head of Lifetime and Estate Planning

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