The firm’s people have raised over £40,000 by competing in a dance competition for the firm’s Charity of the Year,
Bristol Mind.
The competition, which took place at the firm’s Bristol HQ on 6 December, saw five couples and four groups from across the firm compete for two highly coveted Strictly Legal 2018 titles.
The contestants spun their way through an array of Winter Wonderland-themed songs in front of an audience of over 500, matching the festive tunes to routines choreographed and coached by Michele Webber of Dance Factory Bristol.
For the spectacular finale, the top two couples and groups went head-to-head in an encore, where deliberations took place over a combination of the judges' scores, the amount each raised on JustGiving and donations made by the audience on the night for their favourite dance.
Tom Hore, director at Bristol Mind, presented the trophies to the winning couple, Ross Polkinghorne and Tasha Isaac, for their American smooth dance and the winning group, trainee solicitors, for their Salsa.
The amount raised included the proceeds of a live auction, an online auction, and a raffle. A number of auction lots sold on the evening, including a Manchester United tour, tickets and hospitality package, a Wembley Box for an England football match, and a helicopter flight.
Tom says: 'That was the most spectacular fundraising event anyone has ever staged for our benefit. Strictly Legal was a fabulous concoction of glitter, dance, music, outfits and immense generosity raising an astounding sum of money. We are enormously grateful for the commitment and enthusiasm of the 39 dancers and to all of Burges Salmon’s people for putting together a wonderful spectacle that will give a huge boost to our work. On behalf of Bristol Mind, I want to express our sincere thanks to everyone who made this event possible.'
Chair of Burges Salmon’s Charity of the Year Committee, Will Woodall, says: 'We are thrilled to have held another fantastic Strictly Legal fundraising event for our charity of the year, Bristol Mind. The contributions to this production from across the firm have been amazing, and the dancers did incredibly well with their performances and their fundraising efforts.
'Bristol Mind does wonderful work across the city to address vitally important issues around mental health, and we hope these funds will help them to further their efforts in this area.
'We’re also grateful that our collaboration with this charity has contributed to the wellbeing of our own people, who have thoroughly enjoyed participating in this initiative.'
Bristol Mind, an affiliate of UK-wide mental health charity Mind, is a mental health charity for people in Bristol and the surrounding areas providing a range of information, advocacy and counselling resources and services. The charity promotes a positive view of mental health and provides services that are accessible, relevant and powerful to those people needing them.