Re: Summer 2015 | Page 22

Year one round up It is almost a full year since Macmillan in Sussex became our charity partner and so far we have raised £4,000 towards the Macmillan Horizon Centre in Brighton. Set to open in early 2016, The Macmillan Horizon Centre is designed with input from people affected by cancer. The centre will offer all round support from a team of specialists in a calm, friendly and welcoming environment - so no one in Sussex has to face cancer alone. Our board of directors have taken part in an icebucket challenge, we have held cake sales, a car boot sale, multiple dress-down days where our staff pay £1 to wear casual clothes to work, we have taken part in an office to office bike ride and raffled off tickets to see Rod Stewart at our annual golf day. Some of our staff members have run marathons in aid of Macmillan and we will sponsor the Splash of Green Ball – raising money for the Macmillan Horizon Centre. More recently we have organised a beach clean-up with staff from our Brighton and Eastbourne offices taking to their respective beaches, and with the support of the local council, litter picking while raising money and awareness at the same time. Quarterly meetings are held by the Macmillan Mascots and our Macmillan Sussex fundraising manager, Sarah Coxhill. Sarah said: “Winning the Charity of the Year partnership with Mayo Wynne Baxter back in April 2014 was cause for great celebration and excitement across the Sussex team. Being chosen by the staff of one of the largest law firms in the county with the reputation of being incredibly community minded was not only going to mean great things for the local Macmillan projects, but also raise awareness around the services we provide to anyone affected by cancer. We have not been disappointed. With one in four people facing cancer alone in Sussex the importance of shouting about what we do, in order to reach more 20 people, cannot be underestimated. “By choosing to support in particular our Sussex Appeal to build a cancer and support centre in Brighton, ‘The Macmillan Horizon Centre’, the firm have been able to see directly where their fundraising efforts have been spent and have regularly attended site visits to witness the build in progress opposite the Royal County Sussex Hospital. On completion of the build Mayo Wynne Baxter will have made a significant and meaningful impact on this much-needed centre and we’re enormously proud to have been chosen for their support and of our work with them. “Personally I’ve been consistently bowled over by the creativeness, determination, hard work, positivity and team spirit of the organisation. The Macmillan Mascots are a credit to the firm and no task, event or opportunity has been too big for them – all on top of the day jobs. Fundraising should be FUN but it’s also hard work and adds to the daily ‘to do list’. It’s a measure of a person and company when they do this with a smile and ask ‘what next?’ Luckily the team at MWB have boundless energy to dig deep and are no doubt spurred on in the knowledge that the number of people living with cancer in Sussex by 2030 will fill the BHAFC Amex Stadium four and half times... already sadly 24 people are diagnosed in Sussex every day. Our aim is that, while we can’t stop that we can try to ensure no one faces cancer alone. Thank you team Mayo Wynne Baxter, we look forward to another fantastic year working with you.” An event a month, on top of the annual dress-down days is the target, with April’s activity the Royal baby name sweepstake, a car wash in May and the office to office Bike Ride covering all 8 of our offices across Sussex will be repeated in June after a trial run last year. Some of our staff will be taking part in the South Coast Mighty Hike on July 11 which is a 26.2 mile hike from Brighton to Eastbourne which is being considered an alternative for those not so good on a bicycle. We are also headline sponsors of the Macmillan Splash of Green Ball at The Grand, 27th June, www.splashofgreen. info which is also raising funds specifically for the Macmillan Horizon Centre in Brighton. Tickets to this black tie event are still available through the website – help us support Macmillan by coming along. We have another year with Macmillan in Sussex and hope to come up with even more imaginative ideas to raise vital funds that will specifically go towards the centre. The Macmillan Horizon Centre in Brighton is a partnership between Macmillan, Sussex Cancer Fund and Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust. For more information around the Macmillan Horizon Centre visit their website: http://www.macmillan.org.uk/ donate/macmillan-projects/sussexsupport-centre.html