The founder of one of Cheshire’s best loved charities was the speaker at the latest Inspire Cheshire Luncheon Club, held by Chester law and financial services firm Cullimore Dutton.
Cathy Pettingale, Director of Operations for KidsBank, told the 75 guests at the monthly event about the work of the charity and the difference it makes to the lives of children and their families across the region.
Cullimore Dutton has recently renewed its support for KidsBank making it their 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.
Louise Holmes, Head of Wills & Estates at Cullimore Dutton, said: “We were delighted to have Cathy as our speaker at the latest Inspire Cheshire Luncheon Club. I’m sure it will have inspired guests at the lunch to do their bit to help this incredibly deserving cause.”
“We’ll be giving Cullimore Dutton 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 2020 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 has doubled.
Cathy Pettingale, who was joined by her husband and chair of trustees Nick, said: “We’re delighted that Cullimore Dutton has nominated KidsBank as their chosen charity for the second year and it was fantastic to be asked to talk about the work that we do at the Inspire Cheshire Luncheon Club.
“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 their offices on 27 Newgate Street, Chester CH1 1DE between Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm, between now and November 30.
Financial donations can also be made to the charity here https://www.spacehive.com/kidsbank-one-more-gift-2023
For more information, including the KidsBank Christmas Wish List, visit:
https://cullimoredutton.co.uk/cullimore-dutton-renews-support-for-kidsbank/
