Two Shropshire charities will share a donation of almost £3,000 thanks to the efforts of staff from a local accountancy firm

The team from Dyke Yaxley Chartered Accountants, in Shrewsbury and Telford, have been taking part in all kinds of events and challenges to raise funds for their current chosen causes – Shropshire Mental Health Support and the Lingen Davies Cancer Fund.

DY Lingen DaviesMarketing co-ordinator Jackie Young said they had raised £2972 during their campaign which ran from 2020 to 2022.

“Usually we nominate two chosen charities every 12 months and pledge to support them by raising as much money as possible. But this time, because of the Covid 19 pandemic and the difficulties of organising events during lockdown, we extended that to two years instead.

“We’re just so grateful to everyone who contributed to our incredible total, and to all our colleagues who were prepared to put themselves through some tough challenges to maximise the amount we raised.”

The Dyke Yaxley team were even more creative than in previous years when it came to ideas for a mixture of virtual and in-person events which included:

  • A virtual dog race, a Beaujolais Nouveau raffle, a virtual Christmas jumper day and virtual Christmas message board, steps challenges, bake-off events, a sunflower race, fantasy football league, a Christmas wrapping service, and a Valentine’s Day bake sale.

“Everyone who supported our efforts this year has helped us to raise almost £3,000 that will be split equally between our two chosen charities, and we’re looking forward to starting all over again with two new causes in the coming months,” said Jackie.

The next two charities that the firm will support during 2022/2023 are:

  • The Buddy Bag Foundation – providing a bag of essential items to children who enter emergency care, often after fleeing violent situations at home. The bags include toiletries, pyjamas, underwear, and comfort items such as a book and a teddy bear.
  • Shrewsbury Food Hub – a volunteer-powered charity that stops food waste by collecting surplus food from shops, manufacturers and farms, and shares it with community groups to save them money.

Shropshire MHS main pic: From left, Ruth Pemberton (Shropshire MHS) with Richard Pettener, Sharon Wood and Lauren Newell from Dyke Yaxley

Lingen Davies pic: From left, Helen Knight (Lingen Davies), and Matt Orange, Adam Speller and Emily Chinn (Dyke Yaxley)