The Bristol office of national law firm Bevan Brittan has donated £10,000 to city-based St Peter’s Hospice following a challenging year for the charity.
St Peter’s, which cares for adults with life-limiting illnesses, will use the funds to provide essential services, such as its 24-hour hospice advice line. 
A sum of £10,000 can help keep the advice line open for two weeks – which is vital as calls to it have risen by 100% since the start of the pandemic.
Bevan Brittan staff in Bristol chose St Peter’s as the office’s annual official charity under a scheme offered by the firm that allows each of its fourth bases a vote on which good cause to support – with many chosen due to personal connections with staff and their families.
Each office then donates £10,000 to the charity as well as handing over additional amounts through staff fundraising efforts.
Bevan Brittan head of Bristol Office Rosemary Jago, pictured, said: “I am delighted that we are able to offer some extra support after what has been a very challenging year for St Peter’s Hospice and the people they look after.
“£10,000 will make a real difference at Christmas and we are proud to support such a worthy cause with this donation. 
“Community engagement is a big part of our culture at the firm and we play an active role in local communities in Bristol and the South West, through both individual and collective fundraising activities as well as pro bono work. We will look forward to continuing to fundraise and support our Bristol office charity in 2021.”
St Peter’s Hospice corporate fundraising manager Louise Turner added: “We are absolutely thrilled with such a generous donation from our Charity of the Year Partner Bevan Brittan, in particular during such challenging times for our fundraising.
“We are working hard to try and limit the effect that the pandemic has had to our services and this money will go a long way in helping us to be there for patients when it matters most.
“We want to thank Bevan Brittan for supporting us throughout the year as well as with this donation. Staff have volunteered, donated stock to our shops and held many fundraising events and we couldn’t ask for a better partnership”.
St Peter’s, which needs £22,100 a day to operate its care services and with only £4,600 of that coming from the NHS it needs to raise the remainder through legacies, donates and from its shops, which were unable to trade during lockdown.
Due to Covid-19 social distancing restrictions, a cheque for £10,000 was ‘handed over’ by Rosemary Jago to Louise Turner in a virtual ceremony
