St Helena Hospice – caringwith dignity and choice St Helena Hospice helps local people with an incurable illness to live well and die with dignity and choice. Adviser spoke to the team at St Helena to find out how local businesses can support the charity.
H eadquartered in Colchester, St Helena Hospice relies on the support and generosity of the community across north Essex to raise two thirds of the £8.9 million it costs per year to run the charity. The remaining third is contributed by the NHS. Without these donations the hospice simply could not be able to continue helping people who need care at the most difficult, and distressing time of their lives. The hospice provides many opportunities for local individuals, businesses and community groups to do their bit to help raise this money. These fundraising initiatives can range from challenges and events such as cycling to Paris or running 10k dressed as a superhero, donating in memory of a loved one, or sponsoring one of the hospice’s famous annual events. The hospice fundraising team offers advice and guidance on how people can set up events, challenges or fundraising initiatives to raise funds. They can offer talks to groups who wish to find out more about the hospice and the difference that fundraising makes to the lives of the people it cares for, and they can provide informal information evenings for people who are considering taking on a big challenge in aid of the hospice.
G rant Buchanan, Partner Bland discusses why the firm decided to launch the initiative and gives Adviser his views on why he thinks financial awareness around IHT is becoming increasingly important. Firstly, congratulations Grant on your appointment as Partner. The IHT roadshows have been running for over a year now, what was the reasoning behind these events and why embark on them now? Grant: Thank you! I was delighted to join the Partnership at an exciting time. Yes, since we launched the roadshows we have held events from Aldeburgh down to Felixstowe and from Frinton to Framingham, and pretty much everywhere in between! Last year it became apparent that both our financial planning and tax teams were seeing an increase in clients looking for ways in which they could protect their estates by reducing their inheritance liabilities and protect the assets they had planned to leave their families. With this in mind, we decided to ‘hit the road’ and to go out and about in order to let people know that there are ways to protect the estate they have worked so hard to build up. and Chartered Independent Financial Planner at Scrutton
One in five of the patients at St Helena’s are supported by people who leave a gift in their Will to the hospice. Gifts in Wills are a wonderful way to leave a legacy and allow the charity to continue to help people who need their services. The hospice has an Individual Giving team who can help people who are interested in giving sizeable amounts to the hospice, or giving in memory of a loved one. To find out how you can support the hospice in any way please contact the fundraising team on 01206 931468 or email fundraising@sthelenahospice. org.uk or see their website www.sthelenahospice.org.uk Scrutton Bland have many years’ experience working with charities and not for profit organisations across the region to provide financial services including accounting and audit advice, and we have a specialist insurance team dedicated to charity. To talk to one of our advisers call 01206 838400 or 01473 267000 .
The hospice’s Kickstart Christmas initiative takes place throughout the month of December and enables local workplaces to get involved by asking staff to wear a Christmas jumper to work in exchange for a donation to the hospice The hospice runs similar events throughout the year and can offer sponsorship opportunities to businesses throughout the region. Sponsorship of local causes not only raises much needed funds, but can also be a great way to promote a company’s brand by getting involved in large scale community focused events. The St Helena’s team are constantly looking for sponsors to support their cause and are currently working toward securing sponsors for their 2018 events including the Comic Hero Run in March, Pier to Pier in April, Bubble Rush in May, and a 10th Midnight Walk in Colchester which will take place in July. It is not only sponsorship that the team looks for; local businesses and groups can offer their time and expertise, for example, marshalling at an event, or collecting up Christmas trees to be recycled in January in the hospice’s annual Christmas Tree- Cycle initiative. Time can be one of the most precious donations, as seen earlier this year when teams from local firms gave up their time to help rejuvenate gardens at hospice sites, or spent a few hours sorting donations at the charity shop donation centre in Stanway.
Where can people find out more? Grant: we are planning more events - we have one in Ipswich at the end of November and are in discussions for others in Halstead and Sudbury. Register your interest at events@scruttonbland.co.uk or tel 01206 838400 , or check the Events Diary on our website www.scruttonbland.co.uk. If you need to speak to me or one of the financial planning team please call me on 01206 838436 or email grant.buchanan@ scruttonbland.co.uk. Finally, it’s worth remembering that at Scrutton Bland we can offer a joined up service, bringing together the expertise and experience of our financial planning, tax and insurance teams to help you manage your financial and investment portfolios.
Isn’t inheritance tax (IHT) traditionally something which only the very wealthy have to worry about? Grant: Well, ‘wealth’ is subjective and can mean different things to do different people, but what we have seen over the past few years is a significant increase in property prices and personal investments. This in turn means that the estates of many people now fall within the inheritance tax threshold. There has been a lot of coverage in the press regarding IHT, and understandably many people want to find out more about the planning options available to them. Isn’t it just people in their ‘autumnal’ years who need to understand IHT and planning for later life? Grant: Absolutely not. If you come along to one of our events you will see a cross section of ages. Some older family members bring their (grown up) children and people in their middle age are starting to plan for the future. The youngest person we’ve provided IHT advice to had just turned eighteen! The roadshows also cover the importance of writing a will, and setting up a power of attorney – which is important for everyone, at every stage of their life.
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