Irwin Mitchell Charities Foundation Smashes £2m Donation Milestone

Colleagues at the Gatwick office of law firm Irwin Mitchell have raised £19,588 for their Charity of the Year, St Catherine’s Hospice; enough to fund the charity’s Day Hospice for nearly two weeks.

St Catherine’s Hospice provides essential support and end of life care to people across West Sussex and East Surrey. Staff at the law firm enjoyed fundraising for the charity so much, with everything from sponsored obstacle races, dragon boat races, firewalks, bake sales and dress down days, that they voted to retain the hospice as their Charity of the Year for a second year running in 2019.

Irwin Mitchell staff smashed their fundraising efforts from previous years by a staggering £15,000 after tragically, a member of staff from the Gatwick office received end of life care at the hospice, after developing a terminal illness.

The Charity of the Year initiative is all part of work undertaken by the Irwin Mitchell Charities Foundation (IMCF), an independent charity founded in 1997 which has now raised more than £2 million for charities in the UK and abroad. The programme sees staff across 13 offices vote to select a good cause which they can support through both voluntary work and fundraising events. The IMCF was able to double the £284,000 raised by employees during 2018, adding a ‘super top up’ of £54,000 to celebrate reaching the £2m milestone, which helped boost the total.

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“As a firm, we have always been passionate about doing what we can to support important causes and organisations through the IMCF and the Charity of the Year initiative. St Catherine’s Hospice undertakes incredibly important work and we are delighted with the amount we’ve raised for them and only hope we can raise a similar amount this year.” Faye Bargery - Partner

St Catherine’s Hospice has a big ambition: to help everyone face death informed, supported and pain free. Last year, the hospice cared for more than 2,100 people, and held more than 4,000 appointments with patients and their carers

Suzanne Davis, corporate fundraiser at St Catherine’s said: “The support from Irwin Mitchell last year was amazing. This donation will make a huge difference to local terminally ill people in their community. It’s enough to pay for nearly two weeks of care in our Day Hospice, allowing local people to relax with others who understand and enjoy complementary therapies and a home cooked meal.

“We’re delighted their staff have chosen to support us for another year. And we’re grateful for their continuing support. We’re looking forward to continuing to work together with Irwin Mitchell to help even more people when life comes full circle.”