Remote communities in Ghana are making good use of branded clothing and blankets from law firm Royds Withy King, thanks to the inspiring work of Wiltshire charity Action Through Enterprise (ATE).
Royds Withy King, which has offices in Swindon and Marlborough, was formed last year from the merger of regional firm Withy King with London-based Royds. 
As a result, items bearing its pre-merger Withy King branding – including clothing, blankets, umbrellas, pens, paper and mugs – were donated to a number of charities.
Among the beneficiaries were ATE, a Ramsbury-based charity which works with more than 150 families and supports two communities in the remote town of Lawra in North West Ghana, near the border with Burkina Faso.
Nicola Cutler, an associate in Royds Withy King’s dispute resolution team, helped to co-ordinate the donations.
She said: “Charitable giving and supporting the communities we serve are an integral part of who we are as a business – but it’s also very rewarding to be able to support charities in other parts of the world when we can.
“ATE works tirelessly to improve the lives of people in the poorest parts of Ghana, where educational attendance is extremely low as many children spend more time searching for food in the bush or working to make money for their families instead of going to school. 
“We were delighted to be able to work with ATE to deliver Withy King branded clothing and blankets to the town of Lawra where the charity has set up programmes to support, educate and feed over 930 children.”
ATE founder, primary school teacher Sarah Gardner, added: “We are hugely grateful to Royds Withy King for their donation, which has brought smiles to the faces of so many people.
“Some of these items are being used as part of a six-week creative arts workshop for disabled children and have really helped to improve the quality of their learning experience.
“With so many families living on one meal a day and many only able to eat on four days out of every seven, we are appealing for financial support for our latest project to provide one hot meal a day to those children attending our school. Any help the business community can offer will make a massive difference to the children attending the schools we support.”
Royds Withy King also has offices in Bath, Oxford and Thame.
To find out more about ATE’s work, visit www.ateghana.org
Pictured: Top, a young student explores his artistic potential in Lawra, Ghana. Centre, a teaching assistant makes good use of the surplus Withy King clothing and blankets. Above, Royds Withy King charities group members Emily Curtis, Lucy Hughes and Guy Brunton with some of the items donated to good causes following the firms’ merger
