Member Article

North East accountancy firm gives back to the community

EMPLOYEES from a leading North East accountancy firm have swapped their pens for paintbrushes to help with essential maintenance work at a County Durham hospice.

Over 50 staff members from Tait Walker have volunteered their time to Willow Burn Hospice, to help with projects such as rejuvenating the main accommodation building, tidying the garden area and sorting through donated goods at the hospice’s warehouse.

Willow Burn Hospice aims to help people whose illnesses are no longer curable to achieve the best quality of life possible in a friendly and supportive environment.

To date, 20 people from Tait Walker have given up their Friday afternoons to work at the hospice, adding a fresh lick of paint to the outside of the building as well as carrying out some essential maintenance work to the garden area, painting furniture, cutting the grass and weeding the flower beds, all of which has helped create a relaxing environment for patients to enjoy spending time in. The teams also assisted in the sorting of donated goods to the hospice’s community shops.

This work will continue throughout June and July, with the remaining staff also helping out at the hospice’s Summer Fayre on Saturday 18 July 2015.

Paul Jackson, trustee at Willow Burn Hospice, said: “We deliver a positive contribution to the local community through dedicating our time to people when they are most in need of it. With limited funds for redecorating and gardening, we were thrilled when staff from Tait Walker generously donated their time and efforts.

“The fresh paint work to the front of the building and much needed maintenance to the garden area has made such a difference, restoring the hospice’s welcoming surroundings. We can’t thank the team at Tait Walker enough.”

In addition to donating the time of staff, Tait Walker’s Charity Group also covered the costs of the paint and equipment needed to carry out the work, and held a dress down day to raise some much needed funds.

Claire Richardson, business services manager at Tait Walker, said: “The need for redecorating and gardening work at Willow Burn Hospice was brought to my attention by a friend of mine who works there. I suggested to my colleagues how much of a well-deserving cause this would be and I was overwhelmed with the response, with over 50 people wanting to help.

“The hospice do a fantastic job providing care and support and I speak for myself and the team at Tait Walker when I say it was a pleasure to help such a worthy community service.”

Since launching in 2014, Tait Walker’s Charity Group has raised nearly £20,000 for local charities and community projects through fundraising events.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tait Walker .