Employees at Stronachs LLP in Aberdeen have donated more than £9,000 to the ARCHIE Foundation, part of which is funding a makeover of a room for young patients at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital (RACH).
Staff at the full service law firm selected the ARCHIE Foundation as their nominated charity for 2015, with fundraising throughout the year going towards the cause. The firm also supports a variety of charities in addition to the cause chosen by staff members, including Children In Need, Friends of Anchor and North East Sensory Services (NESS).
A donation of £6,000 from the total raised will go towards the ‘High 10 for ARCHIE’ 10th anniversary appeal, which aims to make RACH a world-class hospital for sick children.
The appeal was launched to raise funds to carry out ten projects which represent the steps of a child’s journey through the hospital. Stronachs’ donation is towards step 3 entitled ‘Your Room’ which aims to refurbish all the children’s hospital rooms.
Cassie Thompson, director of fundraising at The ARCHIE Foundation, said: “Coming into hospital for treatment can be a distressing time for children and we want to make the experience as comfortable as possible.
“This generous donation from the staff at Stronachs will allow us to completely refurbish one of our 39 rooms into a brighter, happier and more child-friendly environment for young patients who sometimes need to stay here for extended periods of time.
“We are extremely grateful to everyone who has supported our 10th anniversary appeal and so far we have the funding to refurbish 32 of our rooms at Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital. The generosity of our community is making a huge difference to the way in which we are able to provide care for sick children in the north of Scotland.”
The money was raised by the Stronachs workforce who took part in a range of fundraising activities throughout the year including bake sales, dress-down days, a sponsored challenge up Ben Nevis and a sponsored half marathon along the Giant’s Causeway.
The law firm has further supported the charity over the last two years with their ‘hospital buddy scheme’ by providing a new soft toy for children being treated at the hospital to keep as their own.
“ARCHIE is such an inspiring charity which strives to improve the lives of sick children and their families in the north-east of Scotland,” said Carol Crowther, partner at Stronachs and chair of the firm’s social and charities committee.
“As one of the biggest independent law firms in the north-east we are committed to helping the local community and it’s a privilege for us to be able to contribute to an incredibly worthy cause such as ARCHIE.
“Our employees choose one charity each year to support and The ARCHIE foundation has proven to be a cause which is particularly close to the hearts of many of our staff members, so it has been a joy for us to fundraise and I’m very proud of the efforts of the team in raising such a significant amount.”
Stronachs, headquartered in Aberdeen and with further bases in Inverness and London, now has 19 partners and 115 lawyers and legal support staff, making it one of the largest independent law firms in the region.
With its roots firmly in the North-east and a long established legal heritage, Stronachs continues to develop and innovate and aims to grow further through an ambitious five year plan.
The firm provides legal services to private and commercial clients in all areas including agriculture, banking, corporate, energy, property, construction and dispute resolution.