Fundraising lawyers donate £7,000

Ledingham Chalmers' efforts help Cyrenians, Highland Homeless Trust and Children in Need

News, 27 November 2007

A team of solicitors and their colleagues have raised thousands of pounds for local charities, after clocking up more than 6,400 miles by bike, on foot and in the swimming pool.

Partners, solicitors and support staff at Ledingham Chalmers’ offices in Inverness, Aberdeen and Edinburgh were challenged to cover 2,000 miles between them to fundraise for the Aberdeen and Edinburgh Cyrenians and the Highland Homeless Trust.

The firm’s charitable trust has now doubled its initial pledge to £4,000, split between the charities, in recognition of the extra efforts over the last four weeks.

Among the highest mileage-makers was Aberdeen-based employment lawyer and keen cyclist Veli-Matti Raikkonen, who travelled the equivalent of a return journey to Middlesbrough.

And the firm is also handing some £3,000 to the UK-wide Children in Need appeal, after the charitable trust matched the £1,500 raised for the charity through a variety of activities, including sponsored bagpiping, at its Granite City office.

David Laing, chairman of Ledingham Chalmers, said: “This has been a very satisfying time for our charitable trust, with the final mileage total far exceeding the challenge we set to begin with and we are delighted to double our commitment to these good causes as a result."

Ledingham Chalmers established its charitable trust in 2005 to receive donations from the firm itself and to channel the proceeds of fund-raising initiatives organised by its staff. The firm often provides matching funding for these efforts.

The trust donates to a wide range of charitable and community causes mostly, but not exclusively, in Scotland.