Corporate Social Responsibility is at the heart of our ethos at Oliver & Co Solicitors and a huge part of this involves supporting a number of charities throughout the year. Each year our employees elect a charity to support, and this year we chose Clatterbridge Cancer Charity as our charity of the year. This amazing charity supports the work of the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre which provides treatment for patients with cancer and is involved with research into new and effective treatments.
A year of challenges
As part of our fundraising for the charity, we pledged to do a year of challenges, picking a different challenge each month for employees to take part in to help raise awareness of the charity and to get sponsorship to raise money.
We wanted everyone to be able to take part in the challenges and so they have varied to include things for the mind, body and soul. From taking part in our weekly exercise class to listening to mindful podcasts each day or learning a new word. There is something for every taste.
October was volunteering month
The challenge for October was to take part in some kind of voluntary work. Oliver & Co Solicitors are proud to recognise the amazing work that our employees do to support charities during their own time. Volunteering is something which we encourage our employees to engage in, as we truly believe that our employees can make a huge difference to the wider community, and we know from speaking with some of our employees that volunteering is something which they find fulfilling.
As well as people finding their own events or groups to volunteer with, we had a couple of our own events that employees could take part in.
Tour de Clatterbridge cycling challenge
In September, we completed a sponsored bike ride on static exercise bikes at the front of the office to raise money for the Clatterbridge Cancer Charity. The bikes were kindly donated by a local gym, Elysium Health and Fitness. As always, our employees rose to the challenge, and we are immensely proud to report that we raised £1013.75 and collectively rode 209.94 miles, which is 13 trips to Clatterbridge! We are planning another fundraiser for the charity shortly and any further fundraisers will be published on our social media pages. If you would like to contribute to supporting such an important charity you can visit our JustGiving page.
Hospice of the Good Shepherd’s Foamtastic Colourblast
For a number of years, Oliver & Co Solicitors have proudly supported The Hospice of the Good Shepherd through our regular Will Clinic, and by sponsoring and attending several fundraising events. In October 2022, some of our employees kindly gave up some of their weekend to take part in this year’s Foamtastic Colourblast. This is a fun run where participants run through foam and clouds of powdered paint to raise money for the Hospice. Our volunteers took on a range of tasks including setting up in the morning, helping participants register and the messiest job of all, throwing paint over everyone! The event was great fun for our employees, with many bringing along their families who also took part in the event. This year the event has so far raised £22,033.51 and sponsorship money is still coming in! We’re really pleased, it’s such a brilliant amount! The Hospice is heavily reliant on donations to continue the vital work that they do in providing the very best care for families during such an emotionally challenging time in their lives.
Other volunteering
We are lucky that for many of our employees, volunteering is second nature and is something that they have built into their lives outside of work. As part of our volunteering month, we asked employees to share with us their volunteering work. This is a small sample of their work:
- Volunteering for Giddo’s Gift – a charity that aims to improve the lives of young people with cancer
- Providing free marketing advice and a workshop to a local community centre and children’s charity
- Handing out water to runners at the Chester marathon
- Volunteering for the Night Church – the Night Church is run out of St Peter’s Church and operates once a month. The church is open from 9pm to 2am to welcome anyone who would like a bit of respite, from people who are enjoying a night out in Chester, to homeless people and people who just fancy a chat
- Volunteering at a children’s club
- Becoming members of the village hall committee to help, run and maintain the village hall
- Becoming an animal magic coach for under 10’s hockey
- Re-homing abandoned and injured hedgehogs, neglected ducks and chickens
We could not be prouder of our employees and their volunteering efforts and will continue to encourage them to volunteer. If you would like to support our employees, then keep a keen eye on our social media campaigns where you can keep an eye on our upcoming events!
