Staff from a Taunton law firm have raised over £20,000 by taking on a 100-mile challenge stretching from North Devon to the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
The 16-strong team of partners, lawyers, office staff and friends from Clarke Willmott completed a gruelling three-day trek over the bank holiday weekend, to raise money for anti-slavery charity Unseen UK and muscular dystrophy charity Duchenne UK, which holds a particularly strong place in the hearts of many colleagues.
Following the diagnosis of partner Oliver Smedley’s son with the disease Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), the team decided they wanted to take on a fundraiser which would push them to the limits and the idea for SWAY100 was born. The participants walked, jogged and ran 100-miles along the Samaritan’s Way in three back-to-back ultra-marathons.
Martin Palmer, Clarke Willmott’s Director of Business Development & Marketing, organised SWAY100. He said: “It is fantastic that we have managed to smash our target of £20,000 which means an incredible £10,000 each for Duchenne UK, our new office charity and Unseen UK our outgoing office charity.
“The weather was mostly kind to us and we took in some incredible views of Bristol, Bath, Somerset and Devon.
“The team have come back with many aches, pains and injuries but it was so worth it for the funds and awareness raised.
“Any pain experienced over the 100 miles was nothing compared to the challenges faced by victims of slavery or indeed the Smedley family and those facing a Duchenne diagnosis.”
DMD occurs in childhood and almost always affects boys who tend to be diagnosed before the age of five. There are around 2,500 patients in the UK and an estimated 300,000 sufferers worldwide. Duchenne UK relies solely on charitable donations for their work in finding new treatments and a cure.
Unseen UK works to support the victims of slavery, trafficking and exploitation and effect change across local authorities, government, businesses and law enforcement.
Stephen Rosser, CEO of Clarke Willmott, said: “We are so proud of the SWAY100 team who trained hard and put themselves through the paces to complete this challenge.
“Duchenne UK is a charity which has become very close to our hearts recently and we have all been in awe of the Smedley family’s resilience.
“The total raised by staff has reached the £20,000 target but is still creeping up and there is still time to support this worthwhile cause.
“Congratulations to the team for the fantastic effort and to the support team who kept them going.”
To support the SWAY100 team you can donate here: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ClarkeWillmott-SWAY100.
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