Law firm announces charity of the year
Regional law firm Gardner Leader has announced its new charity of the year, Prospect Hospice.
The charity provides end-of-life care services and support to people living in Gloucestershire, including Fairford and Lechlade, and Swindon, Marlborough and Royal Wootton Bassett, in Wiltshire.
Since 2022 the firm has been fundraising for Newbury Soup Kitchen, raising £8,000 during that time. Over the last 10 years Gardner Leader has supported over ten charities, including Naomi’s House, which provides respite and end-of-life care, and bereavement support for seriously ill children, The Newbury and District Cancer Care Trust, and the Thames Valley Air Ambulance, raising over £50,000 through its team’s fundraising efforts.
Chosen by the firm’s wider team members, Prospect Hospice was nominated through Gardner Leader’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, which was formed in 2014 with the aim of making a positive impact on the communities the firm works in and for.
Gardner Leader’s team will be taking part in a series of fundraising and volunteering initiatives over the coming months, ranging from bake sales and fun runs to organising donations to raise vital funds.
The charity is currently under threat of closure due to increasing cost pressures as funding from the NHS hasn’t risen in 10 years, leaving it around £1m short of what it needs this year to support people who need it most.
Jeremy Lune, CEO of Prospect Hospice, said: “Prospect Hospice are absolutely delighted to be chosen as Gardner Leader’s charity of the year. Like us, they put people at the heart of everything that they do. Each year we provide personalised palliative and end-of-life care to 2,000 patients and support to families across northeast Wiltshire, south Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. In challenging times, we quite simply couldn’t do this without the generous support of our community, so every penny that is raised by Gardner Leader will make a genuine difference to people’s lives. We look forward to working together for the benefit of others.”
Derek Rodgers, Gardner Leader’s managing partner, added: “We are looking forward to working with Prospect Hospice as our new nominated charity for the firm, coinciding with the third anniversary of Gardner Leader arriving in the county following our merger with Clark Holt in August 2021. Like many of my colleagues, I have my own personal experience of the amazing care which hospices provide, and the resources they need to do so, and I am sure that our partnership with them will be an incredibly rewarding one for us and hopefully also for them.”
