Mourant launches London Charity Committee and announces Charity of the Year for 2024
The London office of Mourant has officially launched its London Charity Committee and chosen to partner with City Harvest as its Charity of the Year for 2024.
The Committee, which will help the London office to support various charitable causes and initiatives, is chaired by Alex Last, London Managing Partner and Global Practice Leader of the firm's Investment Funds team, and comprises eight Mourant team members from across the Legal and Business Services teams based in the firm's London office.
City Harvest named London Charity of the Year 2024
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Established in 2014, City Harvest rescues quality surplus food from manufacturers, distributors, farms and retailers. The charity's fleet of vans then deliver the food to over 350 worthy charities in every London borough.
Recipient groups include food banks, schools, homeless shelters, hostels, soup kitchens, mental health charities, the elderly, community kitchens, family centres, children's programmes and domestic abuse refuges. City Harvest was shortlisted by the Committee following a rigorous review process and then chosen by the Mourant London team members by way of an office wide vote.
Following the decision to name City Harvest as Charity of the Year 2024, the charity's Corporate Partnerships Manager, Po-Yee Lai, visited the Mourant London office to explain more about the charity's work and practical ways in which the London team will be able to get involved over the course of the next year.
In addition to an initial one-off cash donation of £500, the Committee will look to organise a range of fundraising activities and volunteering opportunities at City Harvest's food redistribution sites throughout 2024.
Po-Yee Lai commented:
"I am delighted that Mourant has chosen City Harvest as its charity of the year. Through its embrace of City Harvest, Mourant will be helping to fight food poverty, which is accelerating as inflation squeezes families and individuals across London."
Alex Last added:
"Our commitment to supporting local charities is something that is deeply embedded within our firm's values. We are very excited to have established a Charity Committee here in London, which joins the network of Committees already in place across our other global office locations. I am delighted to have taken on the role as Committee Chair.
We would like to extend our thanks to Po-Yee for visiting our office recently to talk so passionately about the valuable work City Harvest does. We very much look forward to supporting the City Harvest team over the next year."
Christmas charity donations
This Christmas period, the London Charity Committee is encouraging the over 70 staff members based in the firm's London office to donate £10 each to City Harvest in lieu of Secret Santa gifts, if they are able to.
Charity bake sale
In addition to supporting the Charity of the Year, the London Charity Committee intends to review ongoing ad-hoc fundraising support to worthwhile causes which fall outside of its grant-making criteria.
The first of these, a charity bake sale, took place at the end of November 2023 in aid of Khalsa Aid, a charity nominated by a London office team member who has personal connections to it. The bake sale was a great success and raised nearly £200 overall.
Khalsa Aid provides humanitarian relief in disaster areas and civil conflict zones around the world. It is often one of the first on the scene to help distribute food, water, clothing, medical and sanitation supplies to victims of natural and man-made disasters such as floods, earthquakes, famine and war.
