Our charity committee’s first fundraising event in aid of Cheltenham Open Door – an evening of bowling and networking – was a great success with 12 local businesses taking part.
The event was organised to raise money for our 2024-2026 charity partner, who rely on donations from local individuals and businesses to help vulnerable, disadvantaged and lonely people in our community. As Cheltenham solicitors, we’re proud of the contribution we continue to make to support local charitable and sustainable causes.
Taking place at Hollywood Bowl in Cheltenham, participating teams competed for the accolade of top scoring lane and overall top scorer, after which they enjoyed an evening to network with other participating businesses.
A big thank you to those from CGT Lettings, Azzets, Charles Lear & Co, Barclays, Crowe, Perry Bishop, Hazlewoods, Parker Financial, CJ Hole, Albright IP and Brewin Dolphin for making the event a success. Speaking after the event, Kelly Lowe from CGT Lettings said: “We all had such a brilliant night and all for such a great cause. We would absolutely be interested in anything similar again.”
Congratulations to the winners:
Top scoring lane: Hazlewoods & Parker Financial
Overall top scorer: Tom Hatcher, Charles Lear & Co
“It was great to bring local businesses together for our first fundraising event in aid of Cheltenham Open Door,” said our charity committee co-chair, Megan Bullingham.
“We’re incredibly grateful to those who took part to support such a worthy cause and to make the event a huge success. As a committee, we’re looking forward to our next fundraiser– our annual Christmas carol concert – and hope that many more can join us to support this incredible charity. Watch this space for more details.”
To keep up to date with the charity committee’s latest fundraising news, visit @willansllp on X, Facebook and LinkedIn and @willansllpsolicitors_ on Instagram. You can also donate to the charity through our Just Giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/page/willans-cheltenham-open-door
About Willans’ commitment to charitable causes
As solicitors in Cheltenham, we feel its our responsibility to support the Gloucestershire community, which we’ve been part of for over 75 years. We recognise that we have a stake in the success and welfare of our community and are very proud of the contribution that we have made, and continue to make.
Many of our lawyers undertake pro-bono work acting as trustees or honorary secretaries to many local charities and support county initiatives including giving career talks at the local university and schools.
Willans also supports countless sporting and community events and initiatives for organisations such as Cheltenham Festivals, Charlton Kings Cricket Club, Old Pats, Cheltenham Rugby, Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce, Cotswold Way Association, to name a few.
We also partner with a charity each year to help them with their charitable objectives. The charity partnership is chosen by our staff who carry out fundraising and volunteering activities.
We are proud to say that we have raised over £120,000 over the past 15 years, which has been put towards fantastic charitable projects for charities such as Maggie’s, LINC, Sue Ryder, Cobalt, Winston’s Wish, National Star College, The Nelson Trust and the Gloucestershire Animal Welfare Association, which runs Cheltenham Animal Shelter.
About Cheltenham Open Door
First established in 1992, Cheltenham Open Door aims to relieve poverty, hardship and social or emotional distress in the community. Guests of the charity’s centre have been deprived of the comforts and security most of us take for granted; they come from all walks of life and may be experiencing mental health difficulties, in or recovering from addiction, isolated from friends and family, in financial difficulty, sleeping rough, in a hostel or on a friend’s floor or have spent time in prison. The charity offers hospitality, warmth, food and somewhere to relax.
Cheltenham Open Door is not linked to any church and welcomes people of all faiths and none. They do not ask questions of guests and they need no booking or referral to visit. As a warm, friendly, welcoming place, guests often describe Open Door as like “visiting a friend’s house”. All services offered are free.
Cheltenham Open Door receives no central funding and relies entirely on donations to run.
Originally founded in 1992 as Open Door at Christmas, the charity gradually expanded and developed our work. Taking the new name of Cheltenham Open Door, it became both a registered charity and limited company. Willans’ real estate partner Alasdair Garbutt has been a trustee of the charity and proudly advocates its work.
Open Door was based at Grosvenor Street in central Cheltenham from 1998-2021 with a small staff team and a team of volunteers. In December 2021, it moved its Guest Hub to a larger premises in Alstone Lane. To this day, it retains 39 Grosvenor St as a donations hub.
