Old Mill turn £50 into £6,000 for charity

Accountants and financial advisers Old Mill have turned £50 into £5,772.40 for Children’s Hospice South West.

Old Mill’s Exeter office took part in Ashfords Solicitors CHSW £50 challenge, where businesses are given £50 which they then use to raise as much money as they can for charity.

Six local businesses, including Ashford’s who put in five teams, Optix Solutions and Somerset College, took part in the challenge, which took place over 10 weeks. Old Mill raised by far the most with almost £6,000; in second place was AC Mole, with a total of £2,314.20 and in third was Bishop Fleming, who raised £1,543.20.

Staff at Old Mill ran a number of events to raise cash; they started the challenge by using the £50 to buy cake ingredients and holding a bake sale. Other events included a cheese tasting evening and a sponsored waxing.

The sponsored wax, which raised over £700 towards the total, involved all the male members of staff; colleagues bid on who they wanted to get waxed by donating on a Just Giving site and the top three had their legs or chest waxed.

The biggest fundraiser was a charity auction, which raised more than £4,000. Local firms donated prizes, including Landover Experience Honiton, who donated a half day experience for two. The highest bid was £600 for a day yachting, which was donated by one of the Old Mill partners.

Mark Neath, head of the Exeter office and one of the waxing victims along with colleagues James Fowler and Barry Martin, said: “It was a real team effort – everyone helped think of the ideas and make them happen. There were a few we didn’t do – like bring your dog to work day – we felt with new carpets, it probably wasn’t a good idea!

Old Mill staff were also very generous with their own donations, with some of the men caught up in a bidding war to try and make sure they didn’t get waxed.

Mark concludes: “ I’m absolutely delighted with the amount we raised, staggered actually, it’s a huge achievement.  The generosity of local businesses in donating prizes for the charity auction was amazing.  Our team were brilliant too, everyone came together to do their bit and we had so much fun with the events.  I would recommend other firms to get involved, it has been great for team spirit.”