Leading international corporate service provider SMP Partners has presented ?3,920 to its 2015 Charity of the Year, Finley’s Tracks, bringing the final total raised to more than ?11,000.

The charity, which was chosen by SMP Partners staff, has received donations from a series of events held throughout the year, starting with the firm’s annual party in January 2015. Since then staff have continued to raise money with a range of events during the year, such as casual clothes days and sponsored activities.

The latest donation brought the final total for the year to ?11,188.

Finley’s Tracks was set up by Donna Harrison to raise awareness of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a life-limiting progressive neuromuscular disorder which results in muscle degeneration. It was inspired by Finley Hesketh, of Onchan, who had been diagnosed with the condition. In addition to raising awareness, the charity seeks to assist people living with DMD and their families, like Finley and his mum and dad Kirstie and Clive.

The charity was selected by a staff vote, and it was a fitting choice as Kirstie used to work at SMP Partners.

Mark Denton, Managing Director of SMP Partners, said: ‘We had an awareness of the aims of Finley’s Tracks before it was chosen as our Charity of the Year for 2015, but after being able to see what it is trying to achieve so closely over the past 12 months we all have a much stronger understanding of its work.

‘The charity is trying to raise awareness of a little-understood but devastating condition, and I can certainly say awareness of DMD among our staff is now much greater. It is also working to provide equipment for Finley and support for others, and I hope the funds we have raised will go a long way towards assisting families living with this condition.’

‘I would like to congratulate everyone at SMP Partners for the huge amount of support they have given the charity throughout 2015, as well as our friends in various businesses that donated prizes for fundraising purposes during the year. We will continue to take a keen interest in Finley’s Tracks and wish the charity all the best for the future.’

Charity Trustee Serena Wood added: ‘We were delighted, as a small and new charity, to be told that we had been chosen as Charity of the Year by a company like SMP Partners. Having the backing of such an established firm, and all the people who work there, has meant we have been able to achieve our primary aim of raising awareness of DMD to many more people during 2015. We will be able to build on this into the future, and I can’t thank the staff of SMP Partners enough.

‘We are overwhelmed by the amount of money which has been donated. It will make a very real difference to our work, taking us closer to achieving our goal of providing support for people like Finley who are living with DMD.’

Photo - (from left to right) Finley’s Tracks Trustee Serena Wood, SMP Partners Managing Director Mark Denton and Donna Harrison, another trustee of the charity.