LGFL are delighted to be supporting our local agricultural show this Bank Holiday weekend, on Sunday 27th and Monday 28th August 2023. We're sponsoring two classes at the popular Swallowfield Show Dog Show for the most Fabulous Fella and Lovely Lady.

In line with our family law firm's commitment to diversity(!), all dogs are welcome to enter our sponsored classes - pedigree, crossbreed, rescue, and best-mixed! There's prizes and rosettes for the winners, and lots of chances to enter with two sessions of judging on both Sunday and Monday, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

So, why not enter your own pampered pooch or crazy canine and win a prize! No pre-booking required, but do make sure you're there in good time. The dog show is a really popular part of the Show and the numbers of entries are somewhat limited by the size of the rings!

Entries will be taken from 10am, with morning judging starting at 11am and afternoon judging from 2pm. Entry costs just £2 per class, but no dogs under the age of 6 months can enter.

Temptation Alley

Not sure if your dog would want to stand still for that long? Have a go at Temptation Alley and discover if your dog loves you more than toys or treats! You simply call your dog and see if they come to you straight away, or via the tasty plates or exciting toys. All successful dogs win a prize, and you can enter as many times as you like for just £1 a try.

What's on at the Swallowfield Show

The Swallowfield Show calls itself "Simply the Best Show in the South of England". Each day, the show is jam-packed with exciting things to see and do, including gundog and falconry displays, vintage cars, and the Tigers Motorcycle Display Team in the main arena.

The kids will love the Activity Zone where they can race go karts, learn circus skills, meet huskies and enjoy the funfair. Buy lunch from the Food Hall and relax on the Village Green with live music, admire the exhibits in the horticulture, and shop for unusual gifts in the craft tents. And all for just £10 a ticket.

How to find the Swallowfield Show

Swallowfield is really easy to find from Junction 11 of the M4 and other major routes, and is fully AA signposted from the M4. Best of all, there is free parking on site for thousands of cars - just follow the signs.

More details

For more details on the Dog Show, see this page

or download the schedule from here

For more information on the Swallowfield Show and to buy your tickets, go to the Swallowfield Show Website.

For more information on LGFL, just click around our website, or call us for an initial appointment to discuss any family law matter in complete confidence.

- Call us

- Email us

- Request your appointment online

At LGFL, we support a wide range of charities as part of our ethos of giving something back to both our local and the global community. We are particularly keen on supporting initiatives that help young people learn, grow and achieve their potential, whatever their background.

So, when Director Rita Gupta met Fiona from Reading-based charity Creating Better Futures, she knew LGFL should help support their multiple projects in Zimbabwe including education, feeding, clean water, and sanitation.

Rita was particularly struck with the charity’s mission to:

“Empower orphans and vulnerable children through access to education with fees paid directly to schools (and) a bursary/scholarship to fund gifted students to attend higher education.”

Out of Africa Charity Ball

Every year the charity holds a Charity Gala Ball and Auction, celebrating the joy and hope of Africa and its peoples. Rita and Anne decided that the best way to mark the company’s sponsorship was to take the entire office-based team to the ball. What a night the team had! The live African entertainment was amazing - energetic, vibrant and irresistibly upbeat!

Our charity auctioneer for the night was none other than Charles Hanson, he of the boundless enthusiasm and big arm gestures from BBC’s Bargain Hunt, Antiques Road Trip, and Flog It. His ability to enthuse bidders to “go on” a little higher was a joy to behold! Everyone had an amazing time and the monies raised will help ensure that over 3000 children receive two proper meals per day at 10 different primary schools supported by the charity.

More information

For more information on sponsoring a child, visit Creating Better Futures

For a free initial consultation** on any family law issue, call us or contact us.

** Qualifying clients only - ask for details.

LGFL are taking a walk! We’re taking part in the Reading Legal Walk 2019 for the first time on Monday 16th Sept, a 10K walk after work with over 150 local lawyers, judges and legal professionals.

So far, our intrepid team in trainers will consist of Directors Rita Gupta and Anne Leiper, plus our superstar staff of Gill Gillings, Amy Bartlett, Christelle Thompson and Anna Meyrick-Jones. The walk will be led by District Judge Catherine Comiskey, District Judge Sophie Harrison and HHJ Katharine Marshall.

Raising funds for advice agencies

We’re all stepping out to raise much-needed funds for local advice agencies in Reading and the Thames Valley. These advice agencies do a fantastic job in preventing homelessness, resolving debt problems, gaining care for the elderly and disabled and fighting exploitation.

There are many poor and vulnerable people in Reading and surrounding areas who rely on help from their advice agencies. We also know how short of funds these support agencies are, funds desperately needed to continue their vital work.

Support us if you can

At LGFL Ltd, we take our corporate responsibility seriously, and this walk is just part of our ongoing commitment to helping the local community. You can do your part by supporting us if you can at our Virgin Money Giving page.

Please donate as generously as you are able.

If you’d like to cheer us on, the whole event starts at 5.30pm, setting out from Walkabout, Wiston Terrace off Friar Street, Reading, RG1 1DG. The walking route takes us through Town Hall Square and on to some of Reading’s loveliest green spaces, including Forbury Gardens, a loop around Thames Valley Park, the banks of the River Thames, through Kings Meadow, before returning to the Walkabout via Reading station!

If you’d like to join in the walk, you can register online, or register on the day from 5pm onwards.

Book clinic: which books can help me weather my parents’ divorce?

Often many books written for children of parents going through divorce are aimed at the younger bracket. This article is in response to a request for books from a 17 yr old. A few good suggestions, and why.

'I was married and divorced in my 20s'

This article discusses the result of divorces on 20 somethings. Whether they felt ‘ashamed’ about their divorces or not. And how their attitude to marriage has changed.

Appeal court rules McLaren driver's prenuptial deal is 'unfair'

Pre-nups are not yet legally binding in the UK. However, they can be taken into consideration as an important factor by judges within a divorce. BUT
"the Court ultimately retains discretion as to what amounts to a fair settlement."

People are sharing the songs they'd play at their divorce and they're hilarious

People choose carefully and love to share their ‘first dance’ song. Now it’s popular to share your divorce songs. Makes and interesting playlist.

Refuge uses powerful reversible poems to highlight hidden nature of domestic abuse

Yes - these poems do show how easily abuse can be hidden. Cleverly crafted poems, to bring home the importance of this subject.

Couples who have separated... but stayed best friends

Divorced but stayed best of friends. It can be done.

Family lawyers support removing divorce from Constitution

An interesting situation for Ireland. Irish family lawyers believe divorce has no place in the Constitution and that it is best left to elected representatives to take decisions and decide what is best for the population.

What happens when your child becomes violent … with you

Domestic abuse - it’s always the adults.

5 Tips for creating happy holidays and New Year, divorce and all

Some tips that might help if you’re in this situation.

Divorce courses become obligatory for Danish parents splitting up

April 1st 2019 will be the day that a new law comes into effect that means Danish parents seeking #divorce will have to go through an obligatory course first. Do you think we need this here?

And finally

Sorry we missed this.

May the force be with the Baroness! Lady Hale to star as Yoda in space-themed play at Gray's Inn

Every parent knows how quickly kids grow out of their clothes - and how expensive that can be for a family. Sadly, there are too many families locally that have fallen on hard times and are living in poverty, and for whom clothes are a major expense they cannot afford.

That’s why at LGFL we are supporting a local charity that aims to prevent clothes and other items that could help a family in need from ending up in landfill, as so much does these days.

First Days Children’s Charity

The First Days charity’s idea is simple. They encourage families to donate used and good quality clothes, toys and equipment for children, from newborn to age seven. The charity then redistributes items to parents in need across Berkshire, who are struggling to provide the basic necessities for their families. The charity also helps with provision of school uniforms for children aged 4 to 16 years.

LGFL Director Rita Gupta explains why the family law firm has chosen to support the charity as part of 10 Acts of Kindness initiative:

“As a parent myself, I find it heart breaking that local families have such a great need, and can’t afford necessities such as a warm winter coat. The children involved are the innocent party, and no child in our society should have to go without the basics.

We love the charity’s work because it helps on several levels.

• It helps local families with practical, almost immediate help at time of need
• It helps put ‘hand me downs’ and ‘upcycling’ back in fashion
• It encourages us to be green and reduces landfill

I have a love of clothes, and have recycled my son’s items (with his permission of course!) so that other children will benefit from them. Much to my surprise, one of the items the charity is most short of are socks, which they put in Christmas gift bags at this time of year. So we also donated new packets of socks in the required sizes! So simple, so inexpensive to us, but so vital to others.”

What is poverty?

In Europe, the definition of relative poverty is where a household income is 60% or less of the country's median household income, which in the UK is currently around £25,000. This means that if a household is bringing in less than £15,000 total a year, they cannot afford an “ordinary living pattern” and that they are excluded from activities and opportunities as a result.

Or as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation puts it rather more bluntly:

“Poverty means not being able to heat your home, pay your rent, or buy the essentials for your children. It means waking up every day facing insecurity, uncertainty, and impossible decisions about money. It means facing marginalisation – and even discrimination – because of your financial circumstances.”

 

Poverty in Berkshire

Poverty in Berkshire can mean a stark choice between school shoes or food. The issue of new school uniforms is also a major concern. The average primary school uniform costs around £200 and secondary school around £330. What’s more, some families in temporary accommodation don’t have access to laundry facilities, so can’t wash school shirts regularly.

How you can help

If you would like to help the First Days, either by donating items or fund raising, the charity would love to hear from you at www.firstdays.net. They receive no government funding and rely on willing volunteers. Or you can go online and checkout their wish-list at Amazon.

The LGFL Acts of Kindness (AoKs)

We’ve identified ten causes to support during our 10th anniversary year You’ll find more details in previous blogs, and our next article will give a full round-up of our AoKs!

During much of World War One, the battlefields of France were a barren landscape of blasted trees, deep mud, bare earth and the scars of miles of trenches. Yet on this desolate landscape, the scarlet Flanders poppies (papaver rhoeas) grew in vast numbers, turning the Western Front red with their delicate, paper-like flowers.

Poppies thrive in disturbed earth, as it is exposure to light and soil temperature that encourages germination. Poppy seeds can lie dormant for years in the dark, waiting for the right conditions to bloom.

The poppy as a symbol of memorial was first begun by WWI poet John McCrae, in his poem “In Flanders Fields”. The Royal British Legion adopted the poppy for its annual appeals in 1921, and the distinctive red paper or material flowers, and the newer enamel badges, have been part of our British culture ever since.

As the British Legion website says, this year’s appeal is about giving thanks:

“This year, join us as we mark the end of the WW1 centenary by saying Thank You to all who served, sacrificed and changed our world.”

We here at LGFL Ltd would like to say our own ‘Thank You’, and we have made a donation to the Royal British Legion.