Staff at Carey Olsen have donated more than £32,000 to two Guernsey charities – the Guernsey Child Contact Centre LBG and the Cardiac Action Group.
The charities were chosen by staff to benefit from the firm’s fundraising activities as well asthe support of the Carey Olsen Guernsey charities committee for a two-year period. Over the past two years the charities have benefited from fundraising and donations from staff through the organisation of a variety of initiatives, including the annual Carey Olsen quiz night, Belle Greve bay ‘Chill Challenge’ and a charity car wash.
Guernsey Child Contact Centre manager Debbie King said: “We cannot thank Carey Olsen enough for the support we have been given, not only financially, but also the regular emails and telephone calls over the past two years asking us how we are getting on at the centre. At the start of our journey with Carey Olsen, volunteers from the firm came into the centre and built shelves for storing our toys and activity equipment and gave our outdoor space a much needed makeover.
“The funding has allowed us to purchase items off our wish list and helps us to run the centre and provide a safe and fun environment for children where they can spend time, maintain or re-establish a relationship with a parent, grandparent, sibling or other important persons in their life. We will greatly miss the support Carey Olsen has given the Guernsey Child Contact Centre and would like to take this opportunity to give our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the firm for its support and funding.”
Carey Olsen’s fundraising efforts for the Cardiac Action Group has helped towards providing equipment and resources for the charity’s Community Resuscitation Development Officer (CRDO) project. Over the past two years, Carey Olsen has enabled the purchase of 12 adult manikins for the CRDO to use in workplaces, clubs, groups and with at risk families across the island. It has also funded 50 inflatable manikins to use in training sessions at the high schools andCollege of Further Education, provided free keyring face shields and permitted time out of work for its own staff to attend the training sessions.
Cardiac Action Group vice chairperson Gerry Le Roy said: “The Cardiac Action Group is very grateful for the support Carey Olsen has given to it so that it could establish and support the Community Resuscitation Development Officer project. During the two-year project the Community Resuscitation Development Officerhas delivered training and familiarisation to more than 2,000 people in the island and delivered public access defibrillator (PAD) site awareness, CPR and automated external defibrillatortraining to over 200 companies.”
In addition, since the beginning of the CRDO project, companies, groups and charities on the island have donated another 20 PAD sites to the existing number across the Bailiwick, raising the total number of cabinets in the community to be used in the event of a cardiac arrest to 60. Another PAD site is about to be installed and four more are being processed.
Carey Olsen Guernsey managing partner Russell Clark said: “We are thrilled to have raised so much money for the Guernsey Cardiac Action Group and the Guernsey Child Contact Centre – both fantastic local charities that make a real difference to the lives of people on the island. Our charities committee and staff have put in considerable time and effort to organise and support the fundraising events and I know the two charities are immensely grateful to them for their hard work and generosity.”
Carey Olsen’s charity scheme is part of the firm’s wider corporate social responsibility programme in the island, which also supports local sport, music and the arts. Since inception in 2009, the Guernsey charities committee has raised nearly£150,000 for local charities, with funds previously going to Guernsey Cheshire Home, the GSPCA, Les Bourgs Hospice, Teenage Cancer Trust (Guernsey), Guernsey Alzheimer’s Society, the Priaulx Premature Baby Foundationand Guernsey Disability Swimming LBG.
Carey Olsen staff recently selected Guernsey Mind and the Guernsey Bereavement Service as their chosen Guernsey charities for the firm’s next two year commitment.
