Member Article

Accountants walk miles to raise smiles for local charity

The weather may have been kind, but the route was certainly not as volunteers from UNW recently got their walking boots on for a mammoth marathon walk in Northumberland for a local charity! On Saturday 16th September 2017, 20 dedicated colleagues from the Newcastle-based accountancy and business advisory firm took on the trek around the picturesque Kielder Water, the largest man-made reservoir in the UK, in aid of their nominated charity Smile For Life. UNW’s annual charity challenge has benefitted organisations in the past such as Caring Hands, Charlie Bear for Cancer Care and Newcastle Women’s Aid. They are raising funds for the Gosforth-based Smile For Life charity for a second consecutive year, having raised over £5,000 in July 2016 with an 80-mile bike ride from St. Mary’s Lighthouse to Holy Island. Michael Morris, Audit Partner at UNW, said: “In what was our fifth annual charity challenge and the first time that we have chosen not to do a cycle, I was happy to do a leisurely walk around the reservoir. But to be perfectly honest, it was probably the toughest challenge we have done, and being such a long distance, took most of the day to complete. “To have such a good number sacrificing their weekend to walk 26 miles around one of the most beautiful parts of the UK to raise over £5,000 for a great charity like Smile For Life is a tremendous achievement, and made all the blisters and aches and pains worthwhile!” Smile For Life is a charitable organisation dedicated to enhancing and enriching the lives of disadvantaged and disabled children who may be unable to get the funding they require from larger national charities and other organisations. They provide specialist equipment, short breaks and experiences along with invaluable work experience at their Café Beam in Gosforth. Having already surpassed their £5,000 target for the challenge again this year, UNW hope to add to this through other events and activities, which include small fundraising efforts at Halloween and Christmas and continuing to host Smile For Life’s Café Beam in their Citygate offices. Paula Gascoigne, Chief Executive at Smile For Life, said: “We were absolutely delighted by the amount of money raised by UNW last year, so for them to take on another demanding challenge and raise such a substantial sum for the second year running is a monumental achievement. “The proceeds will enable us to continue our work helping many of the region’s children who have disabilities or special needs to live easier and happier lives. We are excited to see what the remainder of our corporate partnership with UNW has in store.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Richard Turnbull .