Digby Brown Solicitors raise over £8,000 to support asbestos sufferers

Digby Brown’s Industrial Disease solicitors, along with Dianne Foster at Asbestos Action, took part in a gruelling 26 mile marathon walk around the Fife Coastal Path on behalf of asbestos sufferers.

The route between Leven and Rosyth commemorates those who died after working at notorious exposure sites such as the Methil’s oil rig construction yard and shipbuilders in Burntisland and Rosyth.

All funds will go to Asbestos Action, a charity Digby Brown have supported for many years, which help sufferers of asbestos-related illnesses and their loved ones.

Jan Fury, 67, joined the walk on Friday after her son Brian McIvor died from a terminal asbestos-related lung cancer called mesothelioma.

She said: “I know first-hand the importance of efforts like this walk because towards the end of my son’s life I had no idea what to do, where to turn and how to act.

“But Asbestos Action guided me through everything and still offer friendship to this day and the fact that people still champion this cause makes me feel so humbled.”

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From left to right: Dianne Foster from Asbestos Action and Jan Fury

Asbestos-related diseases occur when people breathe in asbestos fibre which can lead to benign conditions like pleural plaques where the lining of the lungs calcify or terminal cancers like mesothelioma which can prove fatal just weeks after diagnosis.

Thousands were affected because employers, particularly in the construction industry, failed to provide workers with safety gear or breathing apparatus.

To this day asbestos-related conditions claim around 3,000 lives in the UK every year – more than the number of people killed on the roads.

Dianne Foster, support officer at Asbestos Action, said: “The walk had its challenges in the form of sore bones and blisters, but it’s nothing compared to what our clients and their families go through every day.

“We’re delighted to have raised such a great sum and would like to thank those who took part in the walk and to everyone else who selflessly donated to the cause.”

The Digby Brown Industrial Disease solicitors amassed an incredible £4,000 on an online fundraising page, which surpassed their £3,000 target.

However Fraser Simpson, Partner and Head of Digby Brown’s Industrial Disease team, revealed the firm will match whatever is raised online.

He said: “I have fought for countless individuals and their families over the years but it’s the personal impact each person has had on me as a person which inspired me to take part in this walk.

“Digby Brown Solicitors will match anything raised so that means this marathon walk has so far raised in the region of £8,000.

“But there’s still time to raise more so whatever you donate just remember it will be doubled so we can do as much as possible for the hundreds of families across Scotland who rely on these vital services.”

To donate please visit the team’s Just Giving page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/digbybrownindustrialdiseaseteam