On Saturday 14 June, 27 walkers from local law firm CooperBurnett LLP walked a total of 262 miles along part of the King Charles III England Coast Path as part of a challenge to walk a colossal ten marathons in a single day.
A marathon effort
At 7.00 am, ten teams started their long walk from ten locations along the path, walking from Woolwich in London, all the way around the Kent coast and into Sussex, ending in Brighton. In doing so, the CB Charity Coastal Challenge also met its goal of raising £10,000 for the children’s bereavement charity Jigsaw South East, a figure that has been pound-matched by CooperBurnett’s four equity partners – resulting in a grand total of £20,000 heading to Jigsaw.
Over the past few years, law firm, CooperBurnett LLP, has gained a reputation for its impressive charity events, and the 2025 challenge was the firm’s most ambitious to date.
An exceptional charity
CooperBurnett supports private and corporate clients across the South East, with many clients in both East and West Sussex. Team members vote for a charity to support every two years and, within that period, CooperBurnett raises funds with cake sales etc., alongside its flagship charity challenge. Jigsaw South East is an exceptional organisation that supports children and young people through the death of a loved one in Kent, Surrey and East and West Sussex.
Worthy Sussex causes
The firm also supports other community ventures, including the Walk Tonbridge Festival for the past five years raising funds for Sustain, the town’s foodbank. CooperBurnett’s commitment to the community in Sussex also expands to sponsoring the equestrian teams at both Beacon Academy in Crowborough and Uplands Academy in Wadhurst. A parent of a Year 7 student said, having been nervous about joining a new school, her daughter had really ‘found her tribe’ within the equestrian team.
This isn’t the first time TeamCB has travelled across Sussex to complete a challenge. Back in 2019, team members cycled from London to Paris in just 24 hours to raise funds for Brain Tumour Research. The team came together to raise money in memory of Senior Associate Katie Hilsdon’s cousin, Oli Hilsdon, who died from an aggressive and incurable brain tumour (a glioblastoma multiforme) aged just 26. They completed that challenge in May, but the weather was truly awful – with the cyclists battling freezing rainstorms and hail on the route across the Ashdown Forest and down to Newhaven.
Then, two years ago, the team was in West Sussex, tackling the mammoth Race To The King – two ultra-marathon distances of 50km, along the Monarch’s Way from Goodwood and back again, raising money for the children’s hospice charity, Demelza. Three of TeamCB, Senior Associate, Ayla Clissold; Partner, Sarah Strong; and Partner Gemma Gillespie, each individually covered an incredible 100km (62.1 miles) – with Ayla and Sarah amazingly completing that distance in one day!
This year’s charity challenge involved more team members than ever before. In addition to those who walked, other colleagues were on hand to drop walkers off at their early morning start lines and pick them up just over 26 miles later.
Making a difference
“I’m absolutely thrilled with what TeamCB achieved walking ten marathons and covering an incredible 262 miles,” says Freddie St George MBE, Grants & Business Partnerships Manager at Jigsaw South East. “Their determination, energy and heart have not only raised vital funds but also hope for the families we support at Jigsaw South East. The impact of their efforts will be felt far beyond the finish line, helping us continue our essential work with children and young people facing bereavement. We couldn’t be more grateful.”
Every day in the UK, 127 children suffer the bereavement of a parent and Jigsaw South East wants to ensure that the families it supports locally receive the best possible support at the darkest time of their lives. No child or young person should have to face bereavement alone.
Jigsaw South East relies 100% on individual giving, corporate support and grants from trusts and foundations for its income. It is this income which enables the charity to support close to 1000 children and young people each year across the South East. Jigsaw receives no Government, local authority or statutory funding of any kind.
“That’s precisely why support from firms, such as CooperBurnett, is so vital and so urgently needed,” adds Freddie. “Demand for our service grows year on year and Jigsaw desperately wants to continue to provide specialist bereavement support when families need it most. We want to help children regain their voices and feel heard, whilst also supporting parents feel less alone at such an incredibly difficult and testing time.”
£20,000 would allow the charity to run ten of its flagship Jigsaw South East Bereavement Support Group Programmes over a year, supporting over 200 children, young people and families.
“I could not be prouder of TeamCB – walking a marathon takes resilience and determination and they all had it in spades,” says Partner, Victoria Sampson, one of the walkers. “Knowing that the funds raised will be supporting bereaved children in our area kept us all going – through floods, wind, fields of cows and up endless hills.”
Adds Partner, Joseph Oates: “Our charity challenges have become legendary over the years and we couldn’t have done this one without our amazing Charity Committee – Katie Hilsdon, Partner Lisa Connolly and Ayla Clissold – as well as so many others getting up early to drive walkers to their starting points across Kent, Sussex and London. It was, indeed, a marathon effort!”
For details of more Sussex charities, visit:
Moonstones: A Sussex Charity for Victims of Domestic Violence
