Irwin Mitchell Charities Foundation Hits £2m Milestone

A Berkshire charity is celebrating after receiving a donation of £4,000 from the Newbury office of Irwin Mitchell. The National Animal Welfare Trust (NAWT) was nominated as the law firm’s Charity of the Year and staff have spent 12 months fundraising for the local charity dedicated to helping both animals and their owners.

NAWT was chosen by the Newbury office as their Charity of the Year as part of the Irwin Mitchell Charities Foundation (IMCF) programme. Established in 1997, IMCF is an independent registered charity which, thanks to recent efforts, has donated more than £2 million to good causes throughout the UK and £284,000 in 2018 alone, including £4,000 for NAWT.

The NAWT centre in Great Shefford is just seven miles from the Newbury office, which allowed Irwin Mitchell staff to get involved in a range of fundraising activities. The money raised will go towards expanding centres like Trindledown Farm, a purpose built retirement centre for elderly animals and those who cannot be rehomed due to health issues.

The charity runs education programmes for owners, to improve the lives of domesticated animals and reduce numbers of homeless pets. They also offer bereavement services to help people cope with the loss of a pet, plus advice for those who have adopted animals.

Expert Opinion

“The NAWT does great work in both supporting animals and animal lovers within the local community so we are delighted to have been able to support them as our 2018 Charity of the Year. The initiative is a core part of our desire to actively support the local communities where we are based and we are proud to have helped so many great causes along the way.” Sarah Phillips - Head of Lifetime and Estate Planning in the Thames Valley

NAWT centre manager, Tracy Waldron, said: “NAWT Berkshire was delighted to be chosen as Irwin Mitchell’s Charity of the Year for 2018. As a charity, we rely totally on donations, so £4,000 will be a fantastic help to us with a number of projects we would like to achieve, in particular, to improve our facilities for all our potential adopters and visitors to the centre. Doing this will allow us to create a visiting centre that can both educate and support the community, whilst helping towards funding the rescue work we do.”