THP Solicitors Make a Splash of Cash for Mermaids
Only here for the Beer! team won the THP Solicitors fundraising quiz for Henley Mermaids by just half a point on Thursday night at Henley Rugby Club from The Joy of 6 team. The Missing Link took third place.
The Quiz raised £1,000 for Henley Mermaids; Laura Reineke and Joan Fennelly attempt to swim the North Channel in June 2022 raising money for Surfers Against Sewage. The North Channel swim (21 miles ) is considered the toughest of the ‘Seven Ocean Sea Swims’, which include the English Channel between England and France and the Cook Strait between the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The water temperature will be a very chilly 11 degrees.
Henley Mermaids are a group of 5 middle aged ladies (Laura Reineke, Joan Fennelly, Susan Barry, Jo Robb & Fiona Print) who met through a love of swimming. They raise money for a different charity each year by attempting swimming challenges. In 2020 they swam in relay across the English Channel raising £36,000 for Henley Music School, in 2021 they almost swam the Bristol Channel in relay raising another £36,000 for a group of brain condition charities. .
Laura said, “Thank you to Richard Rodway & THP for supporting the Mermaids! This year is a little different, with a few challenges taking place, all for Surfers Against Sewage, an ecological charity raising awareness about water pollution, plastic pollution and clean waterways – something very close to our hearts! Our challenges for this year are taking place across the year, with different mermaids taking part. Laura swam Robben Island to mainland in April, Joan and Laura are swimming relay across the North Channel (NI to Scotland), All mermaids are swimming the Bristol Channel again in July, and all 5 are also swimming from the source of the Thames to Henley over the summer to raise awareness about the rubbish, sewage dumping and cleanliness of the Thames. We have seen, and continue to see the impact we have on the environment, from a whale in SA entangled in fishing nets, to the endless bags of rubbish we collect on each beach, riverbank or lake side. This is why we are fundraising this year, and would like to thank everyone for their ongoing support. It is a big ask to keep raising money, but hopefully we can continue to do the best we can, raise as much as we can, while campaigning for what is important to us.”
Quiz rounds included a picture film round, sport, history, current affairs and food and individual on the spot prize rounds of “How many Steve Redgraves lying down would make up the length of the Regatta course?” and a heads and tails round of more or less asking guests to pose a diving stance (head) or mermaid tail.
Richard Rodway, Partner at THP Solicitors and Quizmaster said, “Given everything else Laura does also, it’s hard not to be inspired by the efforts she and her fellow Mermaids make for good causes. At the beginning of 2020, I said I would put on a fundraiser to support her. We know what happened next, and so this night was very much two years in the making/waiting, and we’re only too willing to help support a cause cleaning up our rivers when the Thames is at the heart of our town and community.”
