A Birmingham law firm is donating £3,000 to local charities this Christmas, as part of the firm’s commitment to relieving poverty and suffering among the homeless during the festive season.
Irwin Mitchell is donating £1,500 each to Outreach Angels and St. Anne’s Hostel as a share of the £39,000 set aside for homeless charities across the country by the Irwin Mitchell Charities Foundation (IMCF).
The donation is part of a nationwide programme developed by the IMCF, an independent registered charity that has donated more than £2 million to good causes in the UK and £284,000 in 2018 alone since it was established in 1997.
In 2018, the IMCF donated £13,000 to homeless charities at Christmas and the success of what has become an annual tradition, has seen the amount given to good causes tripled for 2019, with Outreach Angels and St. Anne’s Hostel chosen in Birmingham after Irwin Mitchell staff saw them at work in the city.
Back in 2016, friends Michala Roche, Sharon Winsindale and Nataley Phillips decided to help homeless people in Birmingham and Outreach Angels was born. Three years on, the charity provides vital support to the homeless community in and around the city centre area.
The charity offer basics like food and clothing to sanitary products and dog food directly to the city’s homeless. As a non-profit organisation, they rely on donations and the efforts of volunteers to deliver what can prove a life-saving service.
Michala Roche of Outreach Angels, said: “We rely on donations to be able to help as many people as possible and the food and clothing supplied by Irwin Mitchell will be a huge help. The £1,500 donation is amazing and will allow us to do so much more this Christmas.
We have known people who have died on the streets and it does bring home the importance of what our volunteers are doing. A blanket or sleeping bag can be the difference between life and death and this support will enable us to better support the 100 or so people we see each week.”
For over 30 years, St. Anne’s Hostel has played a vital role in caring for Birmingham’s homeless, providing a bed, food and support for homeless men aged over 25, a group often overlooked. They provide support and a place to sleep, while the hostel accepts homeless men with dogs, something many charities do not.
Amanda Trappett, Director of Service at St. Anne’s Hostel, said: “We can only do this work with the help of the many kind donations we receive from individuals and businesses like Irwin Mitchell. We cannot thank you enough and the money will be put to good use.”
Lisa Jordan, Regional Managing Partner at the Birmingham office of Irwin Mitchell, said: “We have seen the volunteers from Outreach Angels every Tuesday evening working not far from our office and having seen the good work they do first hand, they were a natural choice for us to support.”
“St. Anne’s Hostel has been providing essential services for the homeless of Birmingham for decades now. I’m sure both charities will put the money to great use and we’re thrilled to be able to help them in this way and play our part in supporting some of the most vulnerable in our community at Christmas.”
Irwin Mitchell has a strong tradition of supporting charitable causes in the region. For their Charity of the Year in 2018, staff raised more than £57,000 for Birmingham St Mary Hospice, the largest sum raised for charity by any of the firm’s 14 regional offices. This year, staff at the office nominated the young suicide prevention charity PAPYRUS to be its Charity of the Year for 2019.
