A Cardiff-based personal injury law firm has launched a match fund scheme to help support charities operating in the south Wales area.
Mooneerams Solicitors will offer its clients the opportunity to donate some of the compensation they receive from successful cases to charity. Mooneerams has pledged to then match this donation up to as much as £100 to give chosen charities twice as much money.
Charities signed up for the scheme so far include anti-poverty agency ActionAid, BulliesOut, Marie Curie Cancer Care, St David’s Hospice Care and learning disability charity Mencap Cymru.
Money raised will go towards funding initiatives such as BulliesOut’s hand of courage programme, which is a workshop delivered in schools by the Cardiff-based charity and sees pupils personalise and paint a ‘hand of courage’. The programme is designed to allow young people to take ownership of an initiative and put their feelings down in paint, with pupils able to share their hand with others that need support because they are a victim of bullying.
The charity provides much needed help and support to individuals and settings affected by bullying. It runs a series of core programmes designed in direct response to the needs expressed by schools, children, young people, parents and carers which are aimed at changing behavioural patterns to help eradicate bullying.
Linda James, CEO of BulliesOut, said: “We are thrilled to be chosen as one of the beneficiaries for this excellent initiative. Bullying affects one in three young people and over 168,000 young people in the UK truant every day as a result of bullying. BulliesOut provides vital help and support to those affected by bullying.
“We have no salaried staff and very limited funds. All funds raised from Mooneerams will go towards helping children and young people affected by bullying. In addition to raising much needed funds, the scheme will also give us third party recognition from an established business, and you cannot put a price on that.”
The scheme will also help fund events run by Cardiff-based charity Mencap Cymru. The charity offers support to the 60,000 people in Wales who suffer from a learning disability, as well as their families and carers, by helping to change laws, challenge prejudice and enabling them to live their lives as they choose.
Jo Popham, events and fundraising manager at Mencap Cymru, said: “Any money raised from the scheme will stay here in Wales and will help support the 60,000 people in the country that have a learning disability and give them the opportunity to live the life they choose. We have several fundraising events coming up and without the great support received from businesses like Mooneerams, we would not be able to put on such events.”
Vin Mooneeram, partner at Mooneerams Solicitors, said: “This is our way of supporting charities that benefit the local communities in which we operate and are close to the heart of our clients.
“All of the charities signed up to the scheme do a fantastic job of raising funds and awareness for such amazing and important causes, and we’re delighted to launch this scheme to support the great work they do.”
Mooneerams, which will celebrate its tenth year in business this year, has a history of supporting local charities, and the scheme follows on the back of the £1,200 the firm raised for various causes during 2011.
Vin Mooneeram added: “We are really keen to establish links with charities that benefit the local communities in and around south Wales, so if any of our clients would like to see additional charities added to the scheme then we would be more than happy to do so.”