At O’Reilly Stewart Solicitors, we are proud to champion charitable causes that are close to our heart. This year, we are delighted to partner with Aware NI to raise much needed funds in aid of mental health awareness and well-being programmes to assist communities across Northern Ireland.
Aware NI is Northern Ireland’s leading depression charity, having established a network of 23 support groups across the country led by the charity’s committed volunteers. Throughout 2023, O’Reilly Stewart’s team have planned a variety of well-being and mindfulness activities with the aim of raising money and awareness.
We first decided that we would partner with Aware NI in December, just before the Christmas holiday. Christmas can be an extremely difficult time of year for those who live with depression and anxiety, so we wanted to take the opportunity to host a fun event in which we could raise money. We marked the occasion with our annual Christmas Jumper Day, which featured all kinds of festive knits from adorable to eye-sore!
Throughout the start of 2023, we have hosted a number of social events that have been a great success for supporting our chosen charity. In addition to our charity raffles, team ORS recently hosted a competitive charity bake-off before the Easter holiday, with many of our wonderful staff bringing in all sorts of delicious bakes and confectioneries. After some intense deliberation, our paralegal and future trainee solicitor Emer Megarity was crowned the bake-off winner for her fabulous Easter bunny themed chocolate cake. Congratulations to Emer and thank you to all our staff who participated and made the day so enjoyable.
Here at O’Reilly Stewart, we recognise the importance of taking time away from the stresses of work to rejuvenate and reconnect with our colleagues. We have planned a number of inclusive well-being events aimed at mindfulness and raising awareness of important mental health issues. This month, our team will take part in a fundraising walk around the River Lagan, followed by a charity hike up Cavehill later in the summertime. In the autumn, our calendar is packed with great social events to raise funds, including coffee mornings and a pumpkin carving competition at Halloween which is sure to bring out our competitive spirits once again!
We also wish to recognise the charitable efforts of our trainee solicitor Conor Cleverly, who will climb Mount Kilimanjaro this summer in aid of Down’s Syndrome Association. Conor has been fundraising tirelessly through a number of great social events, including teaching Irish dancing classes to some of the team here at ORS. We may not be Riverdance material, but we have enjoyed every moment of learning our 1-2-3s and 7s to help with the fundraising. We wish Conor the best of luck with the climb this summer!
We would like to thank all of our colleagues, friends and family for their support of our charity efforts throughout this year. We look forward to continuing our fundraising throughout 2023 in aid of Aware NI.