Glasgow firm tackles 200-mile challenge to help homeless
Fisher German is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a 'Big 25' charity initiative, aiming to raise at least £25,000 for 25 chosen charities.
They plan to achieve this by travelling between the firm's 25 UK office locations without using motorised transport.
Any donations up to £25,000 from supporters will be match-funded by Fisher German, potentially raising £50,000 in total.
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Anyone wishing to donate should visit Fisher German's GiveWheel link at https://givewheel.com/fundraising/7005/fisher-germans-big-25-challenge/.
The firm's Glasgow office on St Vincent Street will receive the baton from Doncaster and cover 204 miles by walking and cycling to Newcastle.
The Glasgow team opted to support Simon Community Scotland, a charity assisting homeless people in the city, including providing advice on getting a job or combating addiction.
The charity was selected after associate partner Ralph Gurevitz's encounter with a homeless woman near their office.
Mr Gurevitz said: 'I had left something at the office one day, so I went back that evening with my daughter and saw the woman in the doorway of a nearby building.
'It was a freezing evening, so we thought we should get her some hot food. We visited a McDonalds and got her a meal and a hot chocolate. She was very grateful to us for thinking of her.
'We asked her if she needed any further help or if she needed taking anywhere. She politely declined, so we left her be.
"I saw her again a little while later and got her food for a second time and wondered if any organisations could help her.
"My wife told me about Simon Community Scotland, who help homeless people in Glasgow and the rest of the country.
"When the Big 25 challenge came along and we were thinking of charities to support, Simon Community Scotland just made sense to us.
"The work they do for people who have fallen on hard times in Glasgow is amazing."
Fisher German's Glasgow team began their journey after a bagpiper played a fanfare.
Their route will take them through Falkirk, Kirkintilloch, Edinburgh, Dunbar, Berwick-upon-Tweed, and Bamburgh, before concluding in Newcastle on June 25.
Marie McShane, relationships and partnerships manager at Simon Community Scotland, said: "Any funds raised will help us provide safe places, support, and hope to many people in our community who desperately need this.
"Amidst the cost-of-living crisis and housing emergency, more people than ever before are at risk of homelessness.'
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