Our Chosen Charity

We are delighted to announce that Somek’s nominated charity for the next 12 months will be the MND Association — a charity committed to improving access to care, research and campaigning for those people living with or affected by motor neurone disease (MND) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

MND affects the nerves known as motor neurons, which are found in the brain and spinal cord and help tell your muscles what to do. Messages from the motor neurones gradually stop reaching the muscles. This leads the muscles to weaken, stiffen and waste, which can affect how sufferers’ walk, talk, eat, drink and breathe. For further details on the MND Association, please click here.

The MND Association is very close to Somek Case Handler, Jenn Clarkson’s heart. Jenn’s husband Paul, father to their two sons, very sadly passed away recently from motor neurone disease, 5 years following his initial diagnosis. Jenn says the charity was, and continues to be, an amazing source of support and offers a comprehensive service to sufferers and their families.

There is always someone available at the end of the phone to speak to, who is there to offer much-needed advice, help and support. Counselling is available for families and also grants, including help for financing holidays. Jenn also found the carers’ meetings and forum to be a tremendous source of support. We offer our deepest condolences to Jenn, her sons, and the rest of her family at this difficult time.

For our first fundraiser we had a Euros style sweepstake, but instead of money going to the winner, staff donated money to the MND Association instead. Despite mourning the loss for the England football team, we were pleased to have raised £248 for the charity!

We are delighted to announce that Somek’s nominated charity for the next 12 months will be BURPS— a charity very close to Natalie Le Roux', Head of HR, heart, as they support the parents and carers of babies in the neonatal unit of Stoke Mandeville hospital. They ensure things like the Vcreate service is able to run, this is where parents receive photos and videos of their babies when they can't be in the unit amongst other things like vital support groups. They were a great support to Natalie and her husband following the premature birth of their son Freddie at 28 weeks. To read Natalie's full story click here and for further details on the charity, please click here. 

For our first Fundraising activity, Somek & Associates staff volunteered to walk 10k across the beautiful Pednor Loop chiltern countryside in Chesham. We didn't let a little heatwave put us off and we were even joined by Charlie Hogan, Case Admin Team Leader's little boy Alex who spent some time in Stoke Mandeville NICU after he was born. By donating to participate, our staff had the opportunity to step away from the desk and get some exercise. In doing so, we have raised a brilliant £880 so far!

BURPS charity means an awful lot to Somek & Associates as we have two members of staff with children who spent time in Stoke Mandeville NICU; both Charlie's little boy Alex and Natalie's little boy Freddie. These are just a few examples of where the money raised will be spent;

Here are a few highlights from the expedition! 

Our second fundraiser for BURPs was a festive quiz in December, hosted by Laurel Webber, Deputy Reports Team Leader.

On Wednesday 21st February staff at Somek & Associates baked, made and bought foodie treats to share that resonated with them in some way - from our own cultural background, childhood, places we’ve visited etc. This was a great way to raise much-needed funds for BURPS but also to celebrate our diversity - our staff members come from a range of cultural backgrounds including South Africa, Pakistan, France, Italy, Poland, Ireland, The Caribbean, Macedonia, Sri Lanka, as well as England.

Our final fundraiser for BURPs charity took place on Saturday 25th May, when Somek staff took part in a 5k park run in Old Amersham. The amersham park run is one of the hilliest in the country so this was quite an uphill climb, in the literal sense! Overall we raised a total £1,470 for the charity.

Somek's chosen charity for 2022/2023 is the National Autistic Society - the UK’s leading charity for people on the autistic spectrum and their families. Since 1962 they have been providing much-needed support, guidance and advice, as well as tirelessly campaigning for improved rights, services and opportunities to help create a society that works for autistic people. To read more about the important work the National Autistic Society do, please click here.    

This is a charity that is very close to Rachael Jeffery’s, Somek's Associates Relationship Manager, heart: “My younger daughter Florence, who is 13, has autism. I have had to fight very hard to get her diagnosis (sadly misdiagnosis or diagnosis later in life is still an all too common reality for girls compared to boys), and then to get her the right help and support via an EHCP and a secondary school that could properly meet her needs. The National Autistic Society provided a valuable resource throughout, via their information pages and helpline, and I am very grateful for all that they do to continue to support those on the spectrum and their families." 

Our third fundraising event for the The National Autistic Society was held on Wednesday 29th March 2023. We hosted a Colour Spectrum fundraiser to tie in with World Autism Acceptance Week, Monday 27th March to Sunday 2nd April 2023. Our fundraiser involved a Spectrum Rainbow Bake - we encouraged staff to 'bake the rainbow', from colourful cupcakes and rainbow cakes to colourful stuffed peppers and rainbow bread. Staff also dressed in bright colours and wore colourful accessories.

To donate to the National Autistic Society please visit our Just Giving page, click here. 

This follows our previous fund-raising events for the National Autistic Society: On Monday 31st October 2022 we hosted a Halloween-themed fund-raising event, which involved staff getting dressed up in Halloween costumes and bringing in Halloween-themed sweet treats! With the help of this event, we have raised £515 so far for the National Autistic Society! 

Somek and Associates were delighted to raise over £180 for The National Autistic Society in our first fundraising event held on Wednesday 15th June. Staff dressed in red, white and blue (or purple and silver in keeping with the platinum jubilee colours) to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and enjoyed a lovely afternoon cream tea.

We also had a lot of fun participating in our guess the baby photo quiz - a mix of staff and celebrity baby photos. Thank you to all our staff and experts who have donated so far. 

To donate to the National Autistic Society please visit our Just Giving page, click here. 

Somek’s chosen charity for 2020/2021 was Scope, the disability equality charity in England and Wales. They provide practical information and emotional support when it’s most needed, and campaign relentlessly to create a fairer society. For more information on the important work SCOPE does, please click here.

This is a charity that is very close to Jessica Thurston's, Somek's Chief Operating Officer, heart: “I would like to nominate SCOPE because many of these children often have a normal life expectancy and a lifelong disability which impacts them differently at different stages of their life. Not all cerebral palsy cases have access to clinical negligence compensation and some people are still living with the condition never realising what they had may have been due to negligent practices. It is a personally important charity to me because David [Jess' husband] has CP. It is still one of the largest causes of disability. Thanks, Jess.”

Following the success of our Pancake Day Challenge and Easter Craft Event Fundraiser, Somek & Associates hosted a Euro themed bake off on Friday 11th June to mark the start of the Euro 2021 Football Tournament. You can see some of the fabulous entries received below! We raised £500 in total for Scope, which is fantastic!!! 

On Wednesday 31st March 2021, Somek & Associates took part in a fun Easter Fundraising Craft Event. We had some fantastic entries from office staff, associates and their kids including decorated Easter bonnets, chocolate eggs and Easter trees.

On 16/02/2021, Shrove Tuesday, Somek staff and associates, and their children and partners, participated in our pancake day challenge to help raise vital funds for Scope. One of our OT expert witnesses and her sons, pictured below, had great fun flipping pancakes! With a very impressive 68 flips, Somek's nursing expert Amanda Agbebi's son was our clear winner! 

In 2021, Somek also raised vital funds for Movember (£820) and MacMillan (£490)… a massive thank you to everyone involved! 

Somek and Associates nominated Bliss, dedicated to helping babies born prematurely and/or sick and their families in the UK, as their nominated charity for 2019/2020. For more information on the important work Bliss do please click here. We raised £420 in total for Bliss.

One of the main reasons for choosing this important charity is that Michelle Caton-Richards, Somek and Associates Associate Trainer, Expert Witness and Registered Nurse, has a daughter who was born prematurely. Her and her husband found Bliss incredibly supportive at what was a very traumatic time in their lives.

Back in July 2015, Michelle sent a frantic email to the Somek office to inform us that she had given birth early and, ever the professional, was concerned about her existing reports. She was 29 weeks pregnant at the time when suddenly, out of nowhere, she was being told that her baby needed to be delivered, and now.

In Michelle’s own words: “I was given 10 minutes to get my head around that fact. She was nearly dead on delivery (not breathing, pulse of 50) and was whisked away before we could even say hello. She weighed just 2lb11.

I'm ashamed to say that after 17 years in the NHS I had not ever stepped foot in to a neonatal unit, had no idea about premature babies, parents of premature babies, and the journey that we were now faced with. The first few days are a complete blur to me now, but I was promptly given a little bag full of information booklets, a DVD, and contact details for Bliss to take a look at once I could manage it.

Bliss is the only official UK registered charity devoted to babies born early and/or sick. As well as supporting parents through what is one of the most traumatic and uncertain times of their lives, they are also involved in a lot of vital research in to neonatal care and outcomes, some of which I have participated in myself. Bliss also provides parent volunteers to as many units as it can. We did not have the benefit of this, but it is definitely something I would like to get involved in at some point, as life in the neonatal unit can be the loneliest place in the world.”

Somek were delighted to receive an email from Michelle on the 5th of September 2019 to let us know that the day was huge for her and her family as her “little preemie miracle started school… A year early really as if she had been born when she should have been (!) She would have not stated until next September - but she is more than ready! I am good for nothing today so apologies if anyone needs me for anything!”

Somek and Associates are very grateful to Michelle for sharing her story to help raise awareness of this incredibly important issue, especially given that 1 in 7 babies in the UK needs specialist care at birth.

Bliss works tirelessly to:

• Support parents with information and emotional support to help them care for their baby.
• Work with health professionals to involve parents in their baby’s hospital care.
• Campaign to improve neonatal services and families’ experiences.
• Support research with a fund dedicated to improving care for babies.

For our first Bliss fundraising event, Somek staff wore the colour purple on Wednesday 13th November 2019 to coincide with the Go Purple campaign for World Prematurity Day in 2019.

Our next Fundraiser was Bake for Bliss on Wednesday the 12^th of February 2020!

Somek staff got baking and had a fantastic day eating cake and, more importantly, raising money for Bliss. 

Michelle said: “I just wanted to say thank you to everyone involved for organising and selecting the charity I had nominated for Somek’s chosen charity this year. It absolutely means the world to me.”