Raising funds for charities impacted by COVID-19 in the process
A pro bono group is encouraging lawyers to get a sweat on as part of a ‘virtual fitness challenge’ that aims to raise much-needed funds for charities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ‘In House Pro Bono Group’ (IHPBG) is calling on members of the profession to compete to be the most active legal group in a new fitness challenge which kicks off next week and runs into late June. The groups include in-house, private practice, academia, chambers, courts and Inns.
The IHPBG, set up last year with the aim of promoting pro bono activity across the legal industry, says participants — who must make a minimum £10 donation to charity of their choice or the charity designated by their organisation — can log their daily run, home-workout or stroll around the park using a special fitness app.
On top of this, the group says it will be revealing special bonus challenges via its Instagram (@InHouseProBono) account for participants to earn bonus “activity minutes” for their teams and to support selected charitable causes along the way including The Access to Justice Foundation and the London Legal Support Trust.
Deborah Smith, co-founder of IHPBG and senior counsel at Goldman Sachs, said: “Our charity partners are expecting to lose a substantial portion of their income over the coming months due to the coronavirus outbreak. This is the exact season that many of them hold vital fundraising events which have had to be cancelled or postponed. It is important that we support these charities now more than ever.”
She continued:
“We are hoping to bring together all sectors of the legal community in a virtual fitness challenge where 100% of the money raised will go to charity. It’s difficult to keep fit in lockdown, it’s even more difficult to run a charity in peak demand when your funding has dried up.”
Last month, Legal Cheek reported that an associate at Herbert Smith Freehills had called on commuters kept at home by coronavirus to donate their “inadvertent economies” to charity. Jake Savile-Tucker says home-working lawyers are saving up to £65 a week from not taking the Tube to work.
Find out more about The In House Pro Bono Group’s ‘virtual fitness challenge’.