A leading engineering and construction company has been named as this week’s Charity Champion after raising £10,000 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity and donating a magnificent wood carved owl for the hospital’s school.

The company, LM, which is a joint venture between Laing O’Rourke and J. Murphy & Sons, is delivering extensive enabling works for HS2 in Birmingham and across the West Midlands. Over the past four years, colleagues there have also been holding cake sales, quizzes and much more to raise funds for the hospital charity.

Based just around the corner from Birmingham Children’s Hospital, the team made it their mission to give back to the local community through fundraising, but their generosity didn’t stop there. With a focus on sustainability and conservation in their work, LM and Five Rivers Contracting commissioned the creation of a magnificent wood carving of an owl from an English oak tree from Crackley Woods in Warwickshire, where enabling works are preparing for the new HS2 railway on its route into Birmingham. HS2 and its contractors are committed to finding opportunities to leave a positive legacy, and LM’s owl carving donation is a great example of this.

The owl, which is the first of 10 wood carvings created from the site by artist Jason Fryers, was presented to Birmingham Children’s Hospital and its James Brindley School for patients, and now sits proudly in the Matron’s Garden at the heart of the hospital.

LM Project Director, Simon Russell, said:

“We are delighted to make this donation and are proud of our team’s continuing fundraising activities for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity. We’re committed to giving back to communities impacted by our works where we can, and we’ve been working with Five Rivers Environmental Contracting and Warwickshire woodcarver, Jason Fryers, to recycle wood by creating sculptures of animals.”

Saranne Moreno, Head of Corporate Strategic Partnerships at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, said:

“We’ve been absolutely blown away by how much LM have put into their fundraising for us over the past four years to reach their target.

“Those funds will go towards helping us do more for the 90,000 sick kids we treat here every year, and the gorgeous owl will leave a lasting legacy for all of our patients, families and staff to enjoy. I know our patients at James Brindley School are looking forward to naming it soon!”

If you would like to donate to Birmingham Children's Hospital Charity, please click here.