A commitment to helping seriously ill children and their families has won a Kent law firm national recognition.
Whitehead Monckton, which has offices in Maidstone and Tenterden, has been shortlisted in the Business Charity Awards for its close work with chYps Children’s Hospice at Home – a Kent charity offering hospice care to babies, children and young adults in their own homes.
The company chose chYps as its corporate charity after staff were balloted on a shortlist of possible candidates.
“We are passionate about our Kent roots and we wanted to develop strong links with a local charity that could really benefit from fundraising activities and the time and expertise given by our staff,” said Daniel Bennett, partner in the Family Law team and head of CSR.
“Over the course of 2012 we raised more than ￡10,000 for chYps with a further ￡5,000 provided by the Whitehead Monckton Charitable Foundation. Strong relationships have been developed and chYps was delighted to be re-elected by staff as our charity for 2013.”
Activities undertaken by Whitehead Monckton partners and employees have included quiz evenings, taking part in the British 10km London Run, rowing the length of the River Medway, writing wills in return for charitable donations and hosting a Christmas party for patients and families.
“Everyone has been very enthusiastic about getting involved and supporting chYps and we have also made sure that as a company we have done our best to promote the charity through steps such as branding on our website and emails,” added Mr Bennett.
“For their part, chYps have taken a close interest in our work, have attended regular meetings, talked about their work to staff and supported our fundraising events, not just through their attendance but also by providing speakers who could tell of the ways in which chYps had helped their families through heart-breaking times.”
The Business Charity Awards are run by Third Sector, a national publication specialising in the work of charities, with the aim of recognising the outstanding contribution made by businesses in the UK to good causes.
Whitehead Monckton is one of three shortlisted companies in its category with winners due to be announced at a gala dinner in London on 20 May.