Birmingham colleague volunteers at Action Duchennes annual conference

Rebecca Bristow, a solicitor in our Birmingham office private client team shares her recent volunteering day undertaken in the community.

‘Duchenne Syndrome is a rare form of muscular dystrophy, a muscle wasting disease that predominantly affects boys, unfortunately it is genetic and there is currently no cure. Boys diagnosed with Duchenne have a limited life expectancy which is sadly cut short to mid to late 20s in the UK.

Action Duchenne is a charity set up to raise awareness and funding into research to prevent Duchenne. I had the pleasure of meeting Lynette Ellison at the Birmingham office charity fair earlier this year and her story really hit home for me. Lynette is the fundraising and marketing officer, she is also a mum with a young son who has Duchenne. The charity did not secure office charity of the year, however I offered to help at their annual conference which was this year held in Birmingham.

I used one of the volunteering days given by the firm to help on the opening day of the conference 9 November 2018, I ushered and helped with IT issues throughout the day. It was incredible to meet this community of families from around the world who had come together to support each other, share their experiences and to learn about new developments.

Below is a photo of me with Lynette and her elder son Leo who does not have Duchenne. I also had the privilege of meeting her youngest son who has been diagnosed with Duchenne, yet you would not know it for the happiness and energy he showed throughout the day.

This charity is completely unconnected to my day job and it reminded me that some of the opportunities that the firm offer to give back to the local community are really very rewarding.

To find out more about the work of Action Duchenne visit this website.