Cullimore Dutton renews its support for KidsBank and their Christmas One More Gift Appeal

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We are delighted to have renewed our support for Cheshire charity KidsBank making it our nominated charity for the next six months.

Colleagues at the firm will be holding a series of fundraising events over the coming months to raise money for the charity. They will also be collecting donations of toys, clothes and toiletries from now until November 30th to help children living in poverty in Cheshire this Christmas.

One in three children in the UK are living in poverty and 7.2 million families in the UK are going without essentials.

Staff, friends, partners and clients are being invited to donate a gift to the charity’s One More Gift Appeal, to donate to their Crowdfunding page, or to volunteer some time to help Cullimore Dutton and the charity to process and distribute presents from the charity’s Christmas Hub in Ellesmere Port to children facing hardship.

Andrew Wright, Managing Director of Cullimore Dutton, said: “This is our second year supporting KidsBank, an inspiring charity that does so much to help families in Cheshire.

“We are encouraging everyone in the business to get involved to do their bit to help, whether that’s donating a gift, giving their spare time to fundraise or helping to distribute the gifts we collect to families in need.

“We’ll also be giving staff time during their working hours to support the appeal so they can help to process and distribute all the gifts. Together, we can make a difference and help to change lives.”

KidsBank Chester was set up in 2019 by Cathy Pettingale based on the idea of food banks, but supplying pre-loved and new toys, clothes and equipment to children aged between 0-12 years within the Cheshire West and Chester area. To date almost 111,000 items have been gifted to KidsBank families. Each year the number of children referred at Christmas has doubled.

Cathy Pettingale, Founder and Director of Operations for KidsBank, said: “We’re delighted that Cullimore Dutton has nominated KidsBank as their chosen charity for the second year.

“Each year we help to provide gifts to children who would otherwise not receive a present at Christmas. In 2022, with the help of our supporters, we ensured 790 children were provided with gifts. We anticipate up to 1,500 children will need our support this year.

“We try to give as many children as we can a bundle of gifts and sometimes this is all they have. By helping to provide gifts to all children referred to us, we can help provide hope and joy to those families and help improve mental health and well-being.”

Cullimore Dutton will be accepting donations of gifts, marked for the ‘KidsBank Appeal’, at our office on 27 Newgate Street, Chester CH1 1DE between Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm, between now and November 30.

We will then be helping the charity to distribute the gifts during the first week of December.

If you’d like to find out more please contact us. 

The KidsBank Christmas Wish List has lots of ideas for boys and girls of different age groups.

 

Helping families plan for the future

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We are helping families to plan for the future by investing in the number of solicitors on our team who are STEP qualified.

STEP members are specialists in inheritance and succession planning and can draft wills and trusts, administer estates, act as trustees and advise families on how best to structure their finances to ensure compliance and preserve their assets for future generations.

We are delighted that Alexandra Chambers, a solicitor in our Wills & Trusts team, has recently qualified as a STEP practitioner.

Alexandra, who joined Cullimore Dutton in May last year, said: “The STEP diploma is highly regarded by both the profession and clients alike. My STEP qualification has enhanced my technical knowledge of Trusts and Estates and allows me to give my clients the best possible service.

“I was thrilled to be invited to the STEP annual dinner by the STEP committee as a high achiever guest for the marks achieved on my diploma.  All my hard work had paid off and I had a wonderful evening celebrating.

“I’m now looking forward to using my expertise to help provide the best possible advice to my clients.”

Alexandra is one of four fully qualified Trust & Estate practitioners at the firm.

Friendly girl explaining some documentation to parent

Book a place at our December seminar – The Bank of Mum & Dad

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Our December seminar will offer advice and tips on how parents can plan for and support the financial future of their children and grandchildren – and we’d love you to come along.

Led by our Financial Services and Family Law teams, we will be discussing key life events and things to bear in mind to ensure your support is best placed and well protected.

We will look at a range of topics including how to fund going to university, how to help a child to get on to or move up the property ladder, protecting a deposit in the event of a relationship break-up and how to finance a wedding.

There will also be inheritance planning tips plus advice about the passing on of pension pots.

Clients are welcome to bring their (adult) children along to the event and there will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions or have a one-to-one session with our team after the event.

This is the second in our newly launched series of seminars. Hosted by our Financial Services and Wills, Trusts and Estates teams, last month we offered advice and answered questions on how to manage your wealth and the benefits of lasting power of attorney.

December’s seminar will take place on Thursday, December 15 between 5.30pm-7.30pm.

To register your place at this free event, taking place in our new office (27 Newgate Street, Chester CH1 1DE) please email visit our website and complete the form or email events@cullimoredutton.co.uk

If you are coming to the seminar, please ring the top doorbell at our main door for access to the building.

  • If you would like to be kept in touch about future seminars please get in touch.
  • If you can’t make the seminar but would like more information about any of the topics, please drop us an email.

KidsBank appeal – can you help?

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Cullimore Dutton supports Christmas appeal to help Cheshire children in poverty

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This Christmas, we have pledged to support Cheshire charity KidsBank with their ‘One More Gift Appeal’.

Until November 30, we want to collect lots of donations of toys to help some of the 9,000 children living in poverty in Cheshire.

We are looking for support from friends, partners and clients. If you would like to donate a gift to the appeal, or volunteer some time to help us and the charity to collate and distribute presents to children facing hardship, please get in touch.

KidsBank Chester was set up in 2019 by Cathy Pettingale based on the idea of food banks, but supplying toys, clothes and equipment to children within a 20-mile radius of Chester. To date they have supported more than 2,500 local children.

It is the third year that KidsBank has run its Christmas donation appeal and last year the charity gave out 420 festive gifts to parents and children. This year, they expect to donate to more than 750 children.

Cathy Pettingale, Director of Operations for KidsBank, said: “We’re delighted that Cullimore Dutton is supporting our Christmas campaign. With the current economic climate, we’re expecting even more people in Cheshire to need our help this year.

“We try to give as many children as we can a bundle of gifts and sometimes this is all they have.”

Andrew Wright, Managing Director of Cullimore Dutton, said: “KidsBank is a fantastic organisation providing a vital service in the Chester community and we are delighted to support them.

“We’re inviting our colleagues, friends, partners and clients to support the campaign by buying one extra gift for a child of any age. We’ll also be gifting staff time during their working hours to support the appeal so they can help to process and distribute all the gifts. Together, we can make a difference and help to change lives.”

We will be accepting donations of gifts at our office Monday-Friday 9am-5pm until November 30. We will then be helping the charity to distribute the gifts during the first week of December. When dropping off gifts at our office (27 Newgate Street, Chester CH1 1DE ) please mark them for the attention of ‘KidsBank Appeal’.