Award-winning Marketing Communications Agency, Golley Slater, has chosen Lia’s Wings as its Charity of the Year for 2024 through an employee and public vote.
Lia’s Wings was nominated by Bex Berry who is Growth Director at Golley Slater. In December 2022, Bex was supported by Lia’s Wings when her son, Evan, was born three months early, over 270 miles from home. The charity flew Evan and Bex by aeroplane ambulance transfer from Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton to Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield so that he could receive neonatal care closer to home.
Reflecting on her experience, Bex says:
“I honestly can’t thank the Lia’s Wings team enough. They made getting us all closer to home so easy and an emotional situation, less stressful. From the second we knew we were going to be flying back, to when they dropped us off, the whole experience was incredible. The whole team's professionalism, knowledge, and kindness, allowed us to feel calm about a stressful situation.”
To support Bex after all she had been through with her son Evan, her colleagues from across the organisation voted Lia’s Wings to be Golley Slater’s Charity of the Year for 2024. Lia’s Wings, a small national charity, received an overwhelming amount of support despite being nominated amongst some of the UK’s biggest and best-known charities.
Melanie Fisher, Campaign Manager, and charity committee lead says
“I'm thrilled that Lia’s Wings has been chosen as our Charity of the Year. It was so lovely to see everyone from across our offices come together and vote for a charity that is close to our hearts. Even those unfamiliar with Bex's story were moved to select this charity. This decision truly reflects the culture of support that defines our agency and I’m very excited to channel this enthusiasm into fundraising activities over the year in support of Lia’s Wings.”
Melanie and her team of ten charity champions will be organising numerous fundraising activities across Golley Slater’s agencies in Cardiff, Leeds, and Cirencester. This will include taking on challenge events to raise vital funds, team building activities and pro-bono support and assisting Lia’s Wings with marketing and communications to increase awareness of our work across the UK.
All funds raised through the partnership will go towards growing Lia’s Wings air transfer service which is expanding throughout the UK and overseas, following our busiest ever year in 2023. Employee fundraising will also support the charity’s newly developed family-centred care offering that provides bespoke emotional and practical support to families with premature babies or critically ill children in hospital.
Charlotte Young, CEO of Lia’s Wings added:
“We are absolutely thrilled to have been chosen as Golley Slater’s Charity of the Year! We are so glad that we could help Evan, Bex and Simon during what was an incredibly difficult time for them all, and we are so grateful for the support we have received from them since his air transfer. This is going to be an incredible partnership that is going to help us reach more children like Evan.”