A LEADING NORTH EAST law firm has set up its own charitable trust, to help support community groups across the region.
Award-winning EMG Solicitors, which has its head office based at Abbeywoods Business Park, Durham along with a base at Gosforth High Street, prides itself on its culture of support for the communities where it operates.
And now the company has taken this philanthropic mindset one step further, by setting up the EMG Community Fund to allow it to give even more back.
Working with County Durham Community Foundation, EMG Solicitors plan to support a range of community initiatives. This includes groups which offer young people opportunities, those which aid elderly people and their carers and organisations which empower women.
EMG Solicitors works across a whole range of sectors, which includes being nationally recognised for its Court of Protection work and deputyships – looking after the interests of those who often lack capacity to manage their own affairs and have a range of challenges.
For Emma Gaudern, Managing Director of EMG Solicitors, giving back has always been at the heart of the company and setting up a community fund is seen as the next logical step.
“It’s been very important to me from day one to be part of the local community and to give back in whatever way we can,” she said.
“We are really looking forward to working closely with the Foundation and using their expertise in ensuring that the money in the EMG Community Fund goes to where it is most needed and makes a real difference.”
Over the years EMG Solicitors has also been a major fund raiser and supporter of Headway, the brain injury charity, sponsored events such as Lumiere and purchased both a Snowdog and an Elmer elephant from the two trails raising money for St Oswald’s Hospice.
£34K has been put into the fund initially, with a long-term plan of giving five per cent of its profits on a yearly basis to benefit good causes.
The fund is being managed by County Durham Community Foundation, which will work closely with EMG Solicitors to ensure that the money is used to make maximum impact.
Michelle Cooper, Chief Executive of the Foundation, welcomed the partnership.
“We are delighted that EMG Solicitors has joined County Durham Community Foundation’s family and launched a community fund with us,” she said.
“They are a great example of business leading the way in social responsibility by supporting grassroots groups within their community.
“These groups know how to bring joy and opportunity to people suffering through poverty or poor mental health, and with EMG’s support they can do what they do best and make a huge difference.”
Any organisation looking to apply for funding from County Durham Community Foundation should go to www.cdcf.org.uk and then follow the link for the Community Grants programme.
Since its launch in 2014 the company has gone from strength to strength, with more than 40 solicitors and support staff working across two sites in Durham and Gosforth.
In that time it has also massively expanded the range of legal services it offers which now covers Court of Protection work, deputyships, Wills, trusts and probate, residential and commercial conveyancing, civil and commercial litigation and family law.
For further information visit www.emgsolicitors.co.uk
County Durham Community Foundation manages a range of funds and if an application can’t be supported by EMG, it may have other grant funding options available.