Thanks to the nominations and votes of the BPE team, Cheltenham Animal Shelter was selected as Charity of the Year for the financial year 2026-2027. This is a great year to get involved, as the shelter are celebrating their 100th anniversary!
Not only does Cheltenham Animal Shelter offer a shelter and rehoming service for pets, it is a multi-faceted business that prioritises animals in as many ways as possible. At the shelter they have an on-site veterinary service which offers affordable appointments and treatments, a dog grooming service, and cat and dog boarding and day care services, too.
As well as their animal services, they have two charity shops – one on-site at the animal shelter, and one on Winchcombe Street in Cheltenham. All the profits raised from these additional businesses go back into funding the shelter and giving the animals in their care the best life possible for as long as they need to stay.
Helping the community is important to Cheltenham Animal Shelter, too! They host animal experience days to help children learn more about caring for animals, “PAWS for Wellbeing” which offers a chance for adults to connect with animals to help boost their mental health, and they regularly visit local residential homes and community groups to share the joy of being around animals.
Whilst Cheltenham Animal Shelter does a lot of work to generate income to continue their work, they also rely on donations from the public to keep them going. Individuals can donate items and money to the charity in different ways, but one of the main sources of income for them is by people leaving gifts in their will.
How to leave a gift to your chosen charity in your will
It is always sensible to use a solicitor to make sure that your will is valid and includes gifts that have been drafted in the right way.
Most gifts take the form of fixed legacies of a definite amount, e.g. £100, but sometimes the charity’s supporters want to donate a percentage of their net estate. This is likely to mean a much greater value is involved, so it is therefore even more important to consider taking legal advice about it.
If your estate will be subject to inheritance tax, leaving 10% of your net estate might mean you can reduce the rate of tax on your estate from 40% to 36%.
If you’re interested in attending one of the shelter’s planned events, check out their website by clicking here.
To read Cheltenham Animal Shelter’s latest newsletter, click here.
We look forward to keeping you updated throughout the financial year with information about how much we’ve raised for this brilliant charity!
If you would like more information on how to leave a gift in your will to Cheltenham Animal Shelter or any other charity, please click here to contact a member of our Tax, Trusts and Succession team who will be happy to help.
