Bishop Fleming joins forces with cancer charity to renovate respite home

Bishop Fleming has spent four days working with Hugs Children’s Cancer Charity, a Plymouth-based charity dedicated to supporting local families affected by rare childhood cancers.

More than 30 Bishop Fleming employees, from apprentices up to partners, spent over 250 hours helping to renovate the charity’s respite home that offers families a much-needed reprieve from the challenges of childhood cancer.

The team of volunteers turned into home renovators for the week at the site. The group painted the hallway and banister from dark wood to white to brighten up the entrance, and helped with garden maintenance, clearing brambles and weeds, chopping back overgrown bushes and establishing new plants for families to enjoy. The front gate was painted, and the patio area was cleaned to enable families to make use of the outdoor space just in time for the warmer weather. The final task was the sorting of the games and DVDs that help families to spend quality time together.
 

The project rounded off a year of fundraising for Hugs by Bishop Fleming’s Plymouth office, which resulted in over £10,000 being donated to its charity of the year. This forms part of a firmwide charity fundraising target of £50,000 for six regional charities.

Elsbeth Hallam, Founder of Hugs Children’s Cancer Charity, expressed gratitude for Bishop Fleming’s support, stating:

“Hugs is very thankful for the team at Bishop Fleming Plymouth for attending our respite home and helping revamp it for the new season. The home is now looking fresh and ready for our paediatric oncology families to stay, relax and enjoy the beautiful home and gardens. Thank you to everyone who got involved in the project”.

As part of Bishop Fleming’s Responsible Business initiatives, all employees can use a day of time to invest in local community activity of their choice – this has previously included working in a food bank, assisting on exhibition stands, planting trees, decorating, litter picking, participating in personal fundraising for charities, and taking part in client and third-party fundraising events.
 

Dan White, Partner at Bishop Fleming, said:

“In partnering with Hugs Children’s Cancer Charity this year, we wanted to apply our core values, including teamwork, to give back more than just money to this amazing charity and deliver on our commitment to having a positive impact on our communities, environment and people. As an organisation, we recognise that a responsible business is a healthy business, underpinned by a focus on healthy communities and a healthy environment to achieve benefit and long-term added value for all stakeholders.”

The Hugs respite home is set in the idyllic Cornish countryside, in a small complex of cottages. The home from home is a two-bed cottage, with three bathrooms and an open plan kitchen, dining and sitting room, with the luxuries of underfloor heating and a wood burning stove. The complex contains its own courtyard and private seating area in a mature planted garden as well as a warm indoor pool, children's play area and a fabulous green space for picnics and games.