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Bell Gully lawyers go bald to support leukaemia
A corporate Shave for a Cure® challenge in Auckland and Wellington has seen Bell Gully and PricewaterhouseCoopers raise an incredible $63,360 to provide vital support for patients with leukaemia.
Collectively around the country, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Bell Gully and Buddle Findlay have raised over $100,000 for the cause.
Last Friday (October 13) nine brave volunteers from Bell Gully in Auckland and Wellington put their locks on the line for the Leukaemia & Blood Foundation's signature fundraising event.
A crowd gathered in the foyers of the Vero Centre in Auckland and HP Tower in Wellington, to witness the head shave of Bell Gully partners Graham McKenzie and Murray Tingey, lawyers Jonathan Clark, Scott Russell, Jo Giboney and Chris Birkinshaw, and business services staff Ben Oge and Kim Hoskin. Lawyer Anna Rosevear had earlier had her hair dyed pink for the challenge.
Later in the day PricewaterhouseCoopers volunteers were shaved and dyed and the outcome of a wager between the organisations as to who could raise the most money was determined. The bet included a senior staff member in each organisation's Auckland and Wellington office undertaking to lose their locks or colour their curls for the cause should their organisation lose the challenge.
PricewaterhouseCoopers won the challenge and Bell Gully chairman David Simcock headed off Friday afternoon to have his hair dyed black. In Wellington, Bell Gully partner Hugh Kettle, who took part in the Shave for a Cure last year, agreed to put his head on the line again, this time for the forfeit shave in the Capital.
David Simcock says the firm was pleased to take part in the event again and have more partners and staff join in the hair-raising activities. "Given this is such a good cause, that has touched many of us, there was no shortage of volunteers willing to lose their locks – and from there the rest have rallied with the fundraising effort. Given we've gone head to head with PwC, which has more than double the number of partners and staff than Bell Gully has, we can hold our heads up high – bald or not!"
Leukaemia & Blood Foundation Executive Director Pru Etcheverry says her organisation is enormously grateful for the continued support, active participation, and enthusiasm from these corporate friends.
"PricewaterhouseCoopers and Bell Gully are valued supporters of the LBF. This fantastic ongoing support means that we can continue to provide services to New Zealand patients and families diagnosed with leukaemia and other related blood disorders," she says. "Four people are diagnosed every day with these diseases, so the need is great."
