BLOG: Partnership with Lovetts Solicitors

21 Jan BLOG: Partnership with Lovetts Solicitors

January 2021

Lovetts Solicitors has been a supporter of Oakleaf for several years, and in 2020 we were thrilled to become their Charity of the Year. This award-winning UK and International business debt collection and recovery firm based in Guildford has over 25 years experience in what they do, and have gone above and beyond to provide Oakleaf with much-needed support in a year that proved incredibly difficult. 

So, we thought we would showcase some of the fantastic work they have done to support our charity.

Funding

Lovetts provided Oakleaf with direct funding throughout 2020, helping ensure we continued to deliver mental health and wellbeing support to hundreds of individuals throughout the Coronavirus pandemic.  These direct donations have and will continue to make a marked difference to Oakleaf clients.

From the start of the first lockdown in March, our Client Services team worked fervently to roll out an immediate programme of remote support, support which our clients desperately needed in such uncertain times. This grew to include at least three wellbeing activities a day, counselling offered online or over the phone, remote IT training, and weekly one-to-one support for hundreds of clients.

We were pleased to welcome back clients to Oakleaf HQ from August for work-related training, wellbeing activities and counselling with Covid-19 safety precautions in place. Although in-person activities have since been curtailed due to new restrictions and subsequent lockdowns, we will resume these face-to-face activities whenever next possible. In the meantime we are continuing to deliver our established remote support, ensuring that everyone has access to the help they need during what is an extremely difficult time. For an update on our current services, click here.

Demand for all our services continues at a high level and we know that the impact of the pandemic will result in even greater numbers of individuals in Surrey needing our experienced mental health support for many months to come. It is supporters like Lovetts who ensure we are able to provide this.

Mental health in the workplace

In light of the pandemic and its impact on the mental health and wellbeing of us all, our Fundraising & Partnership Manager Jen Clay worked with Lovetts Managing Director Michael Higgins to give a talk in June 2020 about the importance of mental health in the workplace during the Coronavirus pandemic. The talk and subsequent discussion addressed wellbeing issues around remote working, and how to support both yourself and your colleagues- even if from afar.  

For information on our Mental Health First Aid training, please click here.

Events

Back in 2019, before the world knew a pandemic was around the corner, in celebration of World Mental Health Day Oakleaf hosted one of its hottest fundraising challenges yet – the Firewalk.

The theme for October 2019 was suicide prevention. We challenged daredevil supporters to focus their mind over matter by walking on hot coals to show their commitment to better mental health in the Surrey community. Lovetts Solicitors got involved, signing up to take part in the event and raise both funds and awareness.

Lovett’s also made an appearance at our Archery Competition as well as participating in our 2020 Oakleaf Annual Quiz Night as team ‘Sweet Potatoes’, helping us to raise a grand total of £3,500 on the night! 

Christmas Care Baskets

Due to the Governmental restrictions in December 2020, we were unfortunately unable to hold our annual Client Christmas Party. Instead, we decided to run a fundraising campaign to enable us to produce and deliver 300 Christmas Care Baskets for clients.

We were so pleased to have Lovett’s join #TeamOakleaf’s efforts to remind our clients that they were cared for during a particularly challenging festive season, despite not being able to hold our traditional celebration. 

Not only did they sponsor the cost of 25 care baskets, but a team of 8 from Lovetts- Jamie, Kimberley, Charlotte, Hannah, Joanna, Sarb, Simran & Amy- also kindly volunteered their time to help assemble and wrap hundreds of baskets so they could reach all our clients in time. Without this help, none of this would have been possible. 

As we begin the new year, we want to say a huge thank you to everyone at Lovetts Solicitors not only for their generous support in 2020, but for their continued support of Oakleaf into 2021. We are incredibly grateful for this support, and look forward to continue working together towards better mental health in Surrey!

To learn more about the services Lovetts Solicitors have to offer, please visit: https://lovetts.co.uk/

Maybe you’re feeling a spark of inspiration from our fundraiser stories? Head over to the ‘Support Us’ page on our website to find out how you can get involved.