Greatwood Charity Race Day 2019

Head of Conveyancing at Awdry Bailey & Douglas, Ronna Turley, had the pleasure of hosting a 'Ladies Day' at last weekends 2019 Greatwood Race Day held at Newbury Racecourse. 

Greatwood is ABD's local charity of the year  for 2018/19. It is a Marlborough based charity that, via equine facilitated learning, uses rescued and rehabilitated former racehorses to help educate disadvantaged children and young people with Special Educational Needs.

Winnings!

Ronna hosted two tables in the hospitality suite inviting a selection of property contacts and clients.

ABD sponsored the Greatwood Novices' Handicap Hurdle Race (Class 4)(0-120) over 2 miles ½ furlong and also had the honour of gifting a £50 cash prize to the winner of the Best Turned Out Horse Award and a bottle of champagne to the Winning Owner, Trainer and Jockey.

Ronna Turley, Kathryn Roker and Rebecca Vassie awarding prizes to the winning owner, trainer and jockey of the ABD sponsored race.

The horse voted by the ladies as “best groomed horse” for the ABD sponsored race

A great day was had by all, with, we believe in excess of £20,000 being raised on the day.

Some of the ladies in the Royal Box after watching "The ABD Supporting Greatwood Novices' Handicap Hurdle Race" from there

New Local Charity Support Announced

Awdry Bailey & Douglas are proud to announce Greatwood as its local charity of the year 2018/19. Greatwood is a Marlborough based charity that, via equine facilitated learning, uses rescued and rehabilitated former racehorses to help educate disadvantaged children and young people with Special Educational Needs.

With offices in Marlborough, Devizes, Chippenham and Royal Wootton Bassett, Awdry Bailey & Douglas supports one local charity in Wiltshire each financial year and is exploring the possibility of a longer term partnership with Greatwood.  

After the Greatwood charity was founded in 1998, the rescue and rehoming of former racehorses began to develop into more, and the innovative and educational programme Horse Power was developed. Designed for young people aged 5-24 with cognitive, physical, emotional and social challenges or disabilities, Greatwood aims to make a real difference to the learners’ future lives and careers as well as facilitating their social mobility. Over the last 11 years, they have educated in excess of 2,000 disadvantaged young people from Wiltshire and adjoining counties.

Tim Hotchkiss, a partner at Awdry Bailey & Douglas saw the work that they do firsthand. “I could not have been more impressed with the Greatwood site at Rainscombe Hill Farm and their innovative methods of using former racehorses to educate children and young adults. It is the dual charitable purpose of caring for both young people and animals that is so endearing to me and our members of staff. At Awdry Bailey & Douglas, we recognise that beyond providing legal advice and expertise to our clients, we have a responsibility to actively engage with and contribute to the wider community in our local area. Our staff are passionate about supporting our local communities and raising money for charity. They are very much looking forward to getting involved in every aspect of the work that Greatwood do, including fundraising events throughout the year, supporting their annual Charity Race Day at Newbury Racecourse and getting stuck in to corporate volunteering at Rainscombe Hill Farm as regularly as possible.“

To find out more about Greatwood please visit their website http://www.greatwoodcharity.org/index.html

Summer Ball 2018

ABD decided to do things a little differently this year, with a “Golf themed” Summer Ball.  The Ball was held at the picturesque venue of Wellington Barn with members of staff having the opportunity to test their crazy golf skills late into the night on the mini golf holes.  The winning team even managed to win a days extra holiday for their members of staff with other guests winning Amazon vouchers. 

Welcoming drinks were offered on arrival which were much needed after such a scorching day of sunshine. 

Once seated, the whole room engaged in a Charity Auction.  The following prizes/services were auctioned by Tom Paget and Alexander David and ABD are proud to announce that the auction managed to raise an outstanding sum of £515.00 for the fantastic charity that is the Starlight Children’s Foundation. 

There were some fun and great lots on offer:   

1. Tim Hotchkiss and Alexander David’s garden and cleaning service – offering a lawn       mowing and car cleaning service.
2. David Turley’s DIY – Dave has offered one whole day of his time to help out with those DIY jobs which you simply don’t get round to doing. 
3. Nicola Hunt - our resident artist unveiled an original artwork which was snapped up.
4. Alistair Everett in Fancy Dress  – Alistair shall be wearing a fancy dress costume around the Firm’s Chippenham Office or at the Firm’s Sport’s Day.

Stay tuned for future updates as the members of staff begin carrying out their chores and tasks!

Following on from the auction, all guests had the opportunity to win several luxury raffle prizes.  These included a trip for two to the Shard followed by a meal at Marco Pierre White’s City restaurant and Laurent-Perrier luxury pink champagne with two flute glasses. 

 All guests then indulged in a delicious 3 course dinner courtesy of Clever Chefs and went on to dance the night away on the dance floor. 

Many people also took advantage of the fun photo booth by ‘striking a pose’ whilst using various different props.

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Awdry Bailey & Douglas are proud to now be a Business Partner of WiRE (Women in Rural Enterprise).  

WiRE is a national business support network; promoting, supporting and developing its membership of rural businesswomen. Grown from an academic research project based in Shropshire, WiRE is now a national membership organisation, widely recognised as a dynamic and positive force within the economy of rural areas and as the voice of rural women’s enterprise in the UK.

Awdrys recently hosted a legal clinic for WiRE members covering aspects of Family, Employment and Commercial Law in order to provide members with a general overview of important considerations for business owners. Three members of the practice spoke:

• Georgina Catlin (Family Law) discussed the wide ranging topic of family law to include ways of protecting your finances      both pre and post separation/divorce;
• Jessica Arnold (Commercial Law) provided an overview of the various ways in which a business can be structured and discussed the key risks and benefits that individuals and companies should consider when deciding what business structure is right for them; and 
• Maxine Nutting (Employment Law) then talked about factors businesses and individuals need to be aware of in terms of whether their workforce or contractors may actually be considered employees and what that could mean for you from a legal perspective if something goes wrong.

Maxine Nutting from the Employment Team discussing the issue that 'workforce' and 'contractors' could potentially be considered as 'employees' in the eyes of the law

The Clinic also provided members with an opportunity to ask questions on an informal basis and many members took advantage of this opportunity.  

Following this, the group then enjoyed a cookery lesson hosted by The Farm Cookery School in Bromham and were able to feast on their creations over a networking lunch.

For further information about WiRE and their members please read our profile http://www.wireuk.org/members/georgina-catlin/

The Wolf Run - Autumn 2018

Woods, obstacles, lakes and fields... WILD RUNNING. Yes call us crazy, but a team of staff here at Awdry Bailey & Douglas has taken the plunge and signed up to participate in the hardcore 10k run across raw natural terrain, otherwise known as The Wolf Run.

The team will tackle a series of tough obstacles in the September run, both man-made and natural. They'll have to run, climb, jump, wade, crawl and swim through the course which is designed to challenge mental and physical strength and skill.

Weekly training has been going well so far, with everyone surviving Practice Manager Dave Turleys gruelling regime! We have new additions joining each week and hope to continue the training group after the run has been completed. 

The wolf pack post training session - still smiling!

The team are honoured to be raising money for a charity that we work closely with at Awdrys, Starlight Children's Foundation - dedicated to brightening the lives of children and teenagers suffering from a serious illness. 

Wasps Legends Rugby Golf Classic 2018

Awdrys Partners Tim Hotchkiss and Alex David attended the Wasps Legends Rugby Golf Classic 2018 in La Manga, Spain from 14-17 June in support of the Wasps Legends Charitable Foundation.  

L-R: (left to right) – Antony Bulley (MD of Strakers), Alex David, Tim Hotchkiss and Matt Powell (former Saracens, Harlequins Worcester scrum-half)

The Foundation is the fundraising element of the Wasps Legends Past Players Network and supports a charitable project each year that is close to the heart of the Wasps Legends teams, with small grants awarded to chosen charitable projects throughout the year and a main grant awarded annually.  

L-R: Tim Hotchkiss, Matt Powell (former Saracens, Harlequins Worcester scrum-half), Alex David and Antony Bulley (MD of Strakers) 

L-R: Tim Hotchkiss, Matt Perry (former Bath, England and British & Irish Lion full back) and Alex David

This is the second time that Tim and Alex have attended the Golf Classic.  The event involves three themed nights (as can be seen from the fancy dress in the photographs) and two rounds of golf with the chance to play with a rugby legend on each of those days.  Approximately 150 guests attended and a thoroughly enjoyable time was had by all, with initial reports confirming that well over £100k has been raised following this event alone. 

L-R: Tim Hotchkiss and Alex David with former Wales and British & Irish Lion No.8, Andy Powell

L-R: Alex David, Antony Bulley (MD of Strakers), Tim Hotchkiss and Peter Scrivener (founder of Wasps Legends and Trustee of the Charitable Foundation and former Wasps No.8)