July 27, 2010
Following its support of the Respite Nursing for Oxfordshire’s Sick Youngsters (ROSY) charity last year, leading Banbury-based law firm Spratt Endicott has selected the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance Service (TVACAAS) as its Charity of the Year for 2010/2011.
TVACAAS was chosen from six staff-nominated charities, with nearly 34 per cent of the law firm’s 120 staff supporting the organisation as their chosen charity. Spratt Endicott has already donated £250 to the charity and a variety of events are planned throughout the next 12 months. Previous fundraisers have ranged from selling home-baked cakes to individual fundraising ideas such as one member of staff hiring out her house boat in return for donations to a male staff member undergoing an eye watering torso waxing.
TVACAAS is Spratt Endicott’s ninth Charity of the Year and John Spratt, senior partner at Spratt Endicott Solicitors, says: “While we support a number of organisations, the selection of a Charity of the Year allows staff to work together and individually to raise further funds. All our staff are committed to raising money to help deserving causes and this year all our fundraising efforts will be concentrated on besting the £1,3316.10 we raised for ROSY last year. We’re really looking forward to helping TVACAAS improve its existing services, including maintaining its new EC135 helicopter which allows family members to accompany those being airlifted to hospital.”
Business Development Manager Bryan Pacey adds: “We considered six deserving charities for our Charity of the Year but TVACAAS was the majority vote winner. The charity now operates daily flight times of 12 hours thanks to the longer summer days providing more light, so they need to raise even more funds to continue their life-saving service to the area seven days a week, 365 days a year. We’ll keep staff updated on our fundraising activities through a monthly newsletter, which will also include event photos so staff can see just how successful and fun their fundraising efforts have been!”
The next fundraiser taking place at Spratt Endicott is a ‘Sizzling Summer Hamper’ where staff members will bring in food, drinks and other items with a summer theme to be organised into hampers. Raffle tickets will then be sold around the firm, with winners receiving one of the hampers as a prize.
Pat Conafrey, head of fundraising for TVACAAS, comments: “Incident rates increase in the summer and longer daylight hours mean that more people are out and about on the roads and undertaking outdoor activities that can lead to accidents. This is why we need sponsors like Spratt Endicott to help us continue providing much-need services to the people of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. “
Community fundraising is the backbone of TVACAAS’s work so Spratt Endicott’s commitment to raising funds for us over the next year will enable us to increase our flying time and further improve the airlift services we provide.”
For more information about TVACAA, log on to www.tvacaa.org
