On Wednesday 11th October Helen & Douglas House will be locking up nine ‘guilty’ (for entirely fictitious crimes, of course) local businessmen and women who are members of Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce or people connected through them, in Oxford Castle and Prison as part of the charity’s Jail & Bail corporate fundraiser. One of the prisoners will be family solicitor, Laura Mortimer from Thame law firm, B P Collins.
Laura and the other prisoners will be arrested and charged with their ‘terrible crimes’ and will be banished to the cells of Oxford Castle and Prison, only to be released if they can raise £999 in bail money.
The prisoners will be picked up in the morning in a police van from Milton Hill House Hotel in Abingdon, escorted to Oxford Castle and Prison by Thames Valley Police. The judge will accuse them of their crimes and they will be transported to their cell. They will be locked up for the day with their only means of communicating being a phone and laptop. In order to get themselves released from prison, they have to reach their bail money of £999 each.
To raise the money for bail, Laura and the other prisoners will need to be very resourceful, using their contacts to help and asking local businesses to fundraise on their behalf; every penny really counts.
Laura Mortimer explains why she has been imprisoned: “I’ve been found guilty of frequently bribing my children with chocolate to get them into the car for school, so quite rightly I am going to jail. If I can secure bail by raising money for the wonderful Helen & Douglas house, it means their incredible work with young people and their families can continue.”
Ros Bowen from Helen & Douglas House said ‘I would like to thank all these wonderful members of Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce and their networks who have agreed to take part in our Jail & Bail fundraiser and the Milton Hill House Hotel for their lovely breakfast. I would also like to thank Oxford Castle and Prison for allowing our ‘inmates’ to be resident there for the day. Thank you to the Thames Valley Police for coming along to help make this fundraiser as realistic as possible by ‘arresting’ our participants and transporting them to Oxford Castle and Prison. The money that each ‘inmate’ raises will help local terminally ill children and their families make the most of the time they have together. This would not be possible without amazing supporters like these wonderful local businessmen and women taking part in this fundraiser.’
If you would like to help Laura raise money for Helen & Douglas House, you can donate by visiting: https://www.justgiving.com/page/laura-mortimer-1695009117109
If you are a local businessman or women who is interested in getting involved in future Jail & Bail fundraisers for Helen & Douglas House, contact [email protected].
