A LEADING North East legal firm is reminding vulnerable children and young adults in the region, that while COVID-19 means they may not be able to see their usual support network of family and friends, they haven’t been forgotten.
EMG Solicitors, at Durham and Gosforth, Newcastle, is among the country’s leading Court of Protection (COP) specialists – safeguarding the welfare of children who may be unable to live at home.
And it has joined forces with a Manchester-based charity to send gifts to young people currently being supported by its COP team.
The award-winning Legal 500 law firm has donated £500 to Silk Elephant CIO, which supplies handmade hearts, elephants and butterflies to critically ill, bereaved and elderly people across the UK.
Since March 2020, the charity has grown from four people to more than 1000 creative volunteers and has delivered nearly 30,000 gifts during the pandemic, including to the USA and Europe as well as across the UK.
The donation will enable EMG to send silk elephants to around 40 children in the region and beyond, who, for various reasons, are being assisted by the EMG legal team.
Silk Elephant CIO founder Zoe Holland started the charity in March, in memory of her father, who died of cancer in December 2019.
She was recently given a Point of Light Award by the Prime Minister for the success of her COVID19 #giftofaheart campaign.
She said: “It was the simple gift of a handmade heart to us during dad’s cancer journey that sparked the idea that we would send handmade hearts to bereaved families, critically ill patients and the elderly.
“The charity has grown exponentially since our initial #giftofaheart campaign, and as a result we are now able to reach out to vulnerable children too with our handmade butterflies and elephants.”
She added: “We are delighted to be working with EMG to send our little elephants to children as part of our #neverforget campaign – it’s a lovely, thoughtful gesture, which we hope will bring them comfort and a sense of companionship.
“Across the UK we have many volunteers, who are lonely themselves due to COVID19, making gifts for us and the ability to share a handmade gift with young vulnerable people has given many a sense of hope and purpose.”
Highly regarded for its skills and experience, EMG operates across a range of different specialisms, from Wills, trusts and probates, the court of protection, family and divorce to residential conveyancing, commercial property and dispute resolution.
Although its offices are in this region – at Durham’s Abbeywoods Business Park and at Gosforth High Street – it has a national reputation and is listed in the legal industry’s most prestigious rankings.
EMG managing director, Emma Gaudern, said the little elephants “would remind children, who may be feeling a little bit lost, vulnerable and, perhaps, lonely, that they haven’t been forgotten.
“Elephants never forget,” she said, “and we wanted to let children that we work with, know that we don’t either.”
For more information about EMG Solicitors, visit www.emgsolicitors.com
