Alzheimer’s Society is the UK's largest dementia charity, which aims to facilitate a better quality of life for people living with the condition, as well as funding medical and social research in to the cause, cure and prevention of the disease. The charity’s Birmingham branch provides support services for people living with dementia in the area, including day care and home care, as well as befriending schemes to help partners and families cope with the demands of caring.
Throughout 2020, inspired by Tony Christie’s hit ‘Is This the Way to Amarillo?’, Gallagher team members took part in a sponsored step challenge in support of the charity – which involved colleagues collectively walking the equivalent distance between Gallagher’s Newhall Street office and the firm’s Amarillo office, before continuing the challenge to ‘reach’ offices in Alabama and Peru, achieving almost 45 million steps in total between them.
Additional fundraising initiatives included an ‘Elf Day’ where team members participated in Christmas-themed quizzes and games. During periods of lockdown, colleagues were also invited to donate money towards the charity which they would have otherwise spent on lunches, coffees and travel while working in the office.
Commenting on the team’s fundraising efforts, Guy Mills, Managing Director of Gallagher’s Birmingham office, said: “As a community broker, we are passionate about providing support to local good causes. Alzheimer’s Society is a charity that is close to a number of our team members’ hearts, and we are delighted to have had the opportunity to support its Birmingham presence in what has been such a challenging time for organisations that rely on the generosity of donations.”
Ryan Stanley, Community Fundraiser, Alzheimer’s Society in Birmingham, said: “We are very grateful to Gallagher for its continued fundraising efforts over what has been a difficult 12 months. The funds it has raised will help us in our fight against dementia including our telephone services such as Dementia Connect and our volunteer led Companion Calls, our ongoing research projects and our work campaigning for government policy change, to ensure that nobody has to face dementia alone.”
