Irwin Mitchell Smash Their Record Fundraising Total for Charity of the Year 2019

One Leeds based charity providing support services for children with additional needs has received a donation of over £38,600 after local lawyers spent a year fundraising for the charity.

Special Needs and Parent Support (SNAPS) was nominated by staff at the Leeds office of Irwin Mitchell to be their Charity of the Year for 2019, as part of a nationwide programme developed by the Irwin Mitchell Charities Foundation (IMCF).

Established in 1997, IMCF is an independent registered charity set up by the firm which has now donated more than £2 million to third sector organisations.

SNAPS has been the Leeds office Charity of the Year two years running, with the team raising £5,000 in 2018 when SNAPS shared Charity of the Year status with Whitehall Dog Rescue.

Irwin Mitchell raised just under £420,000 for good causes across the UK in 2019, with the team’s £38,600 donation to SNAPS being the largest sum the Leeds team has ever raised.

SNAPS provide leisure support services for children with additional needs of all kinds and their families. They aim to support the entire family, by enabling them to participate in shared physical activity in relaxed surroundings, supported by professional, dedicated staff.

The Leeds office has spent the last 12 months supporting the SNAPS in a number of ways. In September, a 12 mile sponsored 9-5 walk by 30 staff raised over £2,700; while a gin tasting event raised a further £1,170.

In addition to fundraising initiatives, members of the team volunteered at several charity events throughout the year. This included supporting the first ever Superhero Zoom at the John Charles centre for Sport, where 120 families took part in an event for children with additional needs.

The 2020 Superhero Zoom takes place on Father’s Day this year, on Sunday 21 June.

The full cost of one of their sessions is £40, but SNAPS charges families just £9 and meets the difference through fundraising. They also provide an inclusive space for children to play and families to meet, chat and support one another. They currently run Saturday sessions of hydrotherapy and rebound therapy at Broomfield and Pennyfield schools. The funds will help them in launching a new site in Bradford this year and increase the number of disabled children they can support in Yorkshire.

Expert Opinion

“We are over the moon to have raised such an amazing amount of money for SNAPS in 2019. It has been a pleasure to support them and the 9-5 walk was real highlight for many of the team. The staff in the Leeds office really got involved with the charity and fundraising over the last 18 months. In 2020 we will be supporting Maggie's Yorkshire and hope that we can exceed this.

Having got to know SNAPS, the team were keen to support their work again and to hand over such a large sum of money is a proud moment. We all got a great deal from volunteering and it’s a great feeling to give something back to the local community in which we all live and work.” Rachelle Mahapatra - Partner

Eve Holdsworth community fundraising manager at SNAPS, said: “It has been a great pleasure to work with the Irwin Mitchell team this year. We are hugely grateful to everyone in the Irwin Mitchell Leeds office for this incredible donation.

They have come up with some wonderful fundraising efforts over the year and we are grateful for their enthusiastic volunteers attending our events, not least our first ever Superhero Zoom.”