UNW celebrates £100,000 fundraising milestone

Maggie’s Newcastle, a dedicated cancer support charity, is celebrating the extension of its highly successful corporate partnership with Newcastle-based independent chartered accountancy and business advisory firm UNW.

Located in the grounds of the Freeman Hospital, Maggie’s Newcastle offers free practical, emotional, and social support to people affected by any form of cancer, as well as their families and friends. The aim of Maggie’s is to empower people to live with, through, and beyond cancer by bringing together professional help and communities of support.

Built in 2013, the Newcastle centre is designed to be a warm and welcoming space with qualified experts on hand to offer free support and guidance for people across the North East and Cumbria. The team consists of NHS-trained Cancer Support Specialists with expert knowledge about cancer and treatment, as well as psychologists and benefits advisors for those who need help accessing financial support.

Through its employee-led Charity Committee, UNW regularly raises funds for a wide variety of organisations, with donations being match funded by the firm; previous beneficiaries have included Gosforth-based Smile for Life and MSRRF, based in Morpeth. Over the last decade, the firm has raised an impressive £100,000 for its chosen charities with that money going on to make a huge difference to a number of local causes.

A total of £14,000 was raised in the first year of UNW’s partnership with Maggie’s, with the firm’s fundraising activities including a demanding 27.5-mile Castle Walk Challenge from Bamburgh to Warkworth in October 2021 and a number of raffles throughout the year. The second year’s fundraising activities began in earnest with the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge in September 2022 raising close to £5,000.

Karen Verrill, centre head at Maggie’s Newcastle said: “We’re incredibly grateful to everyone at UNW for their support so far and are delighted to be the firm’s chosen charity partner for a second year running.

“One of the things that makes Maggie’s is so special is that you don’t need an appointment. You can just walk-in to speak with our experts, over a cup of tea in our relaxed setting. The money raised by UNW’s team will make an immediate difference. Thank you to everyone involved.”

Anne Hallowell, Audit and Assurance partner at UNW, said: “We thoroughly enjoyed our partnership with Maggie’s in the first twelve months and are delighted to have taken it into a second year. Our colleagues and their families have seen first-hand the remarkable work that Maggie’s does for those affected by cancer.

“Our teams have regularly gone above and beyond in the last ten years to fundraise for our charity partners and £100,000 is a truly phenomenal amount to gift out to deserving local causes.”