Law firm Gordons elects organisation aiding critically ill infants to its chosen charity

Wednesday 2nd April 2014

Yorkshire law firm Gordons has chosen The Friends of Alfie Martin as its chosen charity.

This charity raises funds to improve transportation and neonatal equipment for critically-ill infants in the region.

The Friends of Alfie Martin was the clear choice of Gordons’ partners and staff, who will now raise money for the organisation during the next 12 months.

The charity was founded by Sicklinghall-based Fiona Martin, following the death of her baby son, Alfie. Alfie died in February 2002, after an agonising wait for a suitably-equipped ambulance to take him to the nearest neonatal unit since 2012 the organisation has bought equipment worth more than £200,000.

The charity’s activities include working closely with specialist hospital departments to identify key equipment needing upgrading or replacing. It has raised funds to upgrade monitors within Leeds General Infirmary’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, which cares for the sickest babies in Yorkshire, and bought a £50,000 Globetrotter unit, which has increased the number of ambulances able to transport critically-ill infants in the region.

Fiona Martin of The Friends of Alfie Martin, said: “We’re thrilled and honoured that Gordons has voted us its chosen charity. We’re run entirely by volunteers and rely totally on the generosity of people in Yorkshire, as we work to help overcome the lack of appropriate resources in the region.

Monies raised be a Godsend, as we continue to focus our fundraising efforts directly on the units and facilities that need them most and strive to ensure the best monitoring and transportation facilities are available to all who need them.”

The Friends of Alfie Martin has taken over as Gordons’ chosen charity from PhysCap, the Leeds-based buyer of specialised and therapeutic equipment for children with physical and mental disabilities. The firm’s partners and staff raised almost £20,000 for PhysCap during its year as the organisation’s chosen charity.

John Holden, Gordons’ senior partner, said: “The Friends of Alfie Martin does an outstanding job in helping to save the lives of newborns in Yorkshire. The highest number of our partners and staff understandably wanted to raise money for the charity, so we’re looking forward to helping it expand its very important work in the future.”

For further information about the Friends of Alfie Martin, please visit www.thefriendsofalfiemartin.co.uk.