Solicitors, quite literally, offer the shirts off their backs for charity

While some may have a preconception of lawyers being out to ‘take the shirt off your back’ as the saying goes, one local law firm is keen to buck this reputation by offering their shirts to charity.

Regional law firm, Thackray Williams, have set themselves the challenge of turning £50 into over £500 in aid of local Kent charity, ellenor. By making and auctioning off a one-of-a-kind patchwork quilt made from, amoungst other things, lawyers’ shirts, the firm are hoping to win the charities ‘Accumulator Challenge’.

ellenor are a local charity offering support and care for families facing terminal illness in Kent. They are the only charity in the county that offers hospice care for people of all ages, including end of life care, respite and bereavement support.

Unusually, each year the charity gives away £50 notes to local businesses, but this is not a case of reverse philanthropy. Each of these businesses have committed to finding ways of turning that investment into profit as part ellenor’s annual accumulator challenge. The participating firms have just 3 months to invest their cash and turn it into a sizable donation back to the charity. While the organisers at ellenor are used to people taking on the challenge in interesting ways they are quick to admit that Thackray Williams’ plans are amongst the most unusual they have seen.

“It is always interesting to see the ideas that businesses come up with in order to raise money for our accumulator challenge but what Thackray Williams are doing is a new one for us and certainly fulfils our brief of novel.” Says ellenor representative, Kate Barnes.

The blanket has been pieced together from squares of cotton donated by staff from within the firm. They have then commissioned a local artisan, Jean Clinch to create the over 2 meter square masterpiece for them. They are now hoping to attract bids through a popular auction site.

“We hope that somebody locally will fall in love with the blanket and see it as a centrepiece to their home, it might also look good in a trendy office.” says James Bradshaw, Marketing Manager at Thackray Williams. “Being a law firm we felt that the concept of making a patchwork blanket from old shirts was particularly poignant - our attempt to give a little of ourselves to a charity that does so much to confirm others.”

The auction has now begun on this one-of-a-kind, Saville Row inspired, soft furnishing. Details of the auction can be found here: www.thackraywilliams.com/charity-quilt. Bidding closes on the 2nd August, so get in quick!

For further press information please contact James Bradshaw on 0208 461 6178 or james.bradshaw@thackraywilliams.com