Charity drive to honour much missed colleague

Staff at a Sheffield solicitors will spend the next 18 months raising cash for charity in memory of a former colleague who died earlier this year.

Helen Paul, who had worked as a conveyancer in the commercial property team at Wake Smith Solicitors for more than 22 years, died in June after a short illness.

Educated at Bradfield School, she had been in the law for around a quarter of a century in the city and specialised in landlord and tenant work; residential estate development; commercial and residential purchases, financing and disputes and property work on private and charitable trusts and estates.

As a mark of respect to Helen, Wake Smith has chosen Sheffield’s St Luke’s Hospice as its chosen charity, which provided invaluable care to Helen in her final days.

Colleague Paul Gibbon, director in the commercial property team at Wake Smith, said: “I worked with Helen for many years, she was an intrinsic member of the team and will be hugely missed by me, and all of her colleagues.

“One of the special things about Helen was the support she offered to colleagues. She had in-depth expertise in some specialist areas of property law and was always willing to assist and impart her knowledge. I will miss that support, as will a number of the people she has worked with over the years.

“We spoke to her family, who agreed supporting St Luke’s Hospice as our nominated charity was the perfect way to honour her memory. The hospice provided invaluable care to Helen and support for her family in her final days.

“We have the next 18 months to raise funds for the charity and are really looking forward to working with them.”

Outside work, Helen enjoyed gardening and walking and spending time with her grandson.
 
St Luke’s cares for people throughout Sheffield with terminal illnesses. They help to control patients’ symptoms, alleviate pain, and give them the best possible quality of life all without charge.

St Luke’s Head of Fundraising Joasia Lesniak said: “We are so grateful to Wake Smith for choosing to support St Luke’s in this way.  We are really looking forward to entering into a Charity Partnership with Wake Smith and working with them to raise vital funds. Now more than ever, we need the support of our community to ensure we can continue caring for the people of Sheffield, like Helen, when they need it most.”

Last year the firm raised £6,400 for Sheffield’s Create A Dream Foundation after holding fundraising events including dress down days, a staff games night, running the Sheffield 10k, Great British Bake Off-style cake sales, sweepstakes, competitions, a tuck shop, lunch club raffles and a quiz night.