Fundraisers Brave Shark Infested Waters To Raise Thousands Of Pounds For Kids

By Suzanne Rutter

A team of intrepid fundraisers from a leading law firm will be bravely taking the plunge in shark infested waters to raise money for a children’s charity celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

Fundraisers from Irwin Mitchell’s offices in Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester will be coming face to face with 10-foot sand tiger sharks at the Blue Planet Aquarium in Cheshire for national charity KIDS, which works with disabled children and young people. All the money raised will go to the East Yorkshire and Humberside branch of KIDS based in Hull.

Sarah Coles, Andrew Walker, Georgina Sheldon, Tarlochan Supri, James Hemming, Nigel Bolton, Matt Brown, Dean Bestall, Carolyn Oade, Liam Riley, Scott Beckett and Fay Gould will all be thrown in at the deep end on Saturday, 1 June for the shark dive and hope to raise over £2,500 for the charity’s East Yorkshire and Humberside branch. The team has already raised more than £1,000.

Sarah Coles, an associate solicitor at Irwin Mitchell’s Leeds office who will be taking part in the challenge, said: “Following a daredevil fire walk last year, we thought swimming with sharks seemed to be the next logical step!

“The charity is close to all our hearts at Irwin Mitchell because they do such fantastic work with the parents and carers of youngsters with disabilities. The charity relies on donations and grants so we hope our fundraising efforts will help them continue their life-changing work particularly in the East Yorkshire and Humberside region.

“We are all a little nervous but incredibly excited about taking on such an exciting challenge, which will also help the charity’s Hull branch mark its 25th anniversary year. We just hope the sharks have been well fed before we dip our toes into the water.”

KIDS was established nationally in 1970 by John Mulcahy, a teacher who was concerned about the development of a disabled child in one of his classes. John went on to set up KIDS to encourage parents, carers and schools to work together to enable disabled children and young people to develop their skills and abilities and to fulfil their potential, hopes and aspirations.

The KIDS East Yorkshire and Humberside branch was set up in 1988 and is based at Chanterlands Avenue in Hull.

Jonathan Greenwood, a fundraiser for KIDS in Yorkshire and Humberside who helped organise the event, said: “We currently support more than 1,000 families but we wouldn’t be able to continue to help disabled youngsters, their carers and families in the region without the support of fundraisers at local companies like Irwin Mitchell.

“We wish the team all the best for their shark dive – we really admire their bravery and determination to raise money for KIDS.”

To sponsor the Irwin Mitchell team visit: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/irwinmitchellsharkdivers