Staff At Law Firm’s London Office Raise £24,000

Friendship Works is set to benefit from a record £24,000 donation from Irwin Mitchell’s London office, after staff at the firm spent a year raising funds for the good cause.

Friendship Works 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).

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 20^th anniversary, nationally, the law firm raised a record £180,000 during 2017. In doing so, the majority of the firm’s regional offices, including London, smashed their own fundraising records in the process.

The bumper donation, which is £5,000 more than staff raised in 2016, will help Friendship Works support friendships between 13 disadvantaged young people in London and the volunteer mentors that will bring the support and experiences that will hugely impact their life.

Money raised by Irwin Mitchell will help young people like Leroy, a 14-year-old boy who until Friendship Work’s help was shy, withdrawn and struggling to identify any interests. Leroy was supporting his mum, who suffers from personality disorder, and she became worried he didn’t have any positive male role models in his life. She approached Friendship Works, who introduced Leroy to Mat, a mentor who established a great rapport with Leroy and used a calm, steady approach along with Leroy’s love of basketball to help him grow into the confident 14-year-old he is now.

Irwin Mitchell colleagues also presented the charity with special medals they had commissioned for Friendship Works to help reward the achievements of their mentors and mentees at their inspirational annual awards ceremony in May.

Kate Gledhill, head of service delivery at Friendship Works, said: “We were thrilled to be Irwin Mitchell’s Charity of the Year 2017. All money raised by Irwin Mitchell will go towards improving the emotional well-being, resilience and life chances of disadvantaged children in London through long-term mentoring.”

Alison Eddy, managing partner at Irwin Mitchell’s London office, said:

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“We are thrilled 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 Friendship Works is going to use the donation, and how young people across the city will be further supported, is spurring on our staff to think of bigger and better ways to fundraise for this year’s good cause.” Alison Eddy - Regional Managing Partner