Firms respond to support communities during covid-19 crisis

Law firms and their staff have been putting in extraordinary efforts to support their local communities during the coronavirus pandemic, according to reports.

Following news in March that the UK was going into lockdown, Pepperells Solicitors launched a Help For Local Heroes Campaign in a bid to collect useful equipment for its community’s frontline staff.

According to the Law Gazette, 16 collection points have been established across Hull, Scunthorpe, Grimsby and Lincoln and the firm has received 10,000 donations, which have been sent either to hospital wards or community health workers. The initiative has seen volunteers build a network of NHS contacts in the local community, which has enabled them to identify the various items required by these workers. Donations have included hand creams, sanitisers, surgical gloves and face shields.

Meanwhile, more than £50,000 has been raised by Simpson Millar to pay for tablet computers for those hospitalised due to coronavirus. The #staytogether campaign was launched by Nick Harris, a lawyer at the firm’s Manchester office, and his wife who is a staff nurse on a covid-19 isolation ward. The money was raised through the firm and a JustGiving page.

Speaking to the Law Gazette, Harris said: “I’m so proud of what Leona and her nursing colleagues are achieving. It is incredible and they really are heroes. I am also proud of the immense efforts my colleagues, who are fantastic people, are putting in to rally and support the #staytogether cause.”