What better way is there to spend a Friday afternoon than putting on an American themed lycra onesie, get your competitive aspirations out with a little dodgeball and raise money for children.  That’s precisely what US Tax & Financial did last week.  Joining organizers Vestra Wealth, our tax professionals transformed into a dodgeball team, led by our very own Captain ‘Murica Sitara Zafar, and joined by 250 other attendees for a great cause.

The event, organized by Vestra Wealth, was set up in aid of Beanstalk, a national charity that recruits, vets, trains and supports volunteers to work in primary schools with children who have fallen behind with their reading.

Illiteracy is a persistent national problem in the UK and can have a lasting effect on people’s lives. Poor literacy skills are closely linked with long term poverty, unemployment, ill health and offending behaviour. And according to research by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) English school leavers are among the least literate and numerate in the developed world. Some of the shocking statistics about this problem in the UK are:

• 1 in 8 or over 66,000 children left primary school in 2014 unable to read or write above a basic standard.
• 70% of pupils permanently excluded from schools have difficulties in basic literacy skills.
• 60% of the prison population have difficulties with basic literacy with 48% below the level expected of an 11 year old in reading and only 1 in 5 able to complete a job application form.
• England is now ranked 22nd out of 24 Western countries in terms of literacy and 21st for numeracy – being outperformed by nations such as Estonia, Poland and Slovakia.
• Basic skills have effectively worsened over the last 40 years, with recent school leavers registering lower scores in tests than their parents’ or grandparents’ generation. England was the only country in the developed world in which adults aged 55-to-65 performed better in literacy and numeracy than those aged 16-to-24 after taking account of other factors such as the economic background of those taking the test.

Beanstalk works with children on a one-to-one basis, giving them their full attention and support but this isn’t just about enjoying stories, it’s about helping children build confidence, avoid social exclusion, and giving them the opportunity to have the bright and happy future they deserve.

As the charity’s corporate partner, Vestra Wealth has been proud supporters of Beanstalk since 2011.  “We chose to support Beanstalk as our nominated corporate charity partner because, as a fairly young partnership ourselves, we believe in developing and nurturing future talent.  We wanted to work with a charity where our team could be actively involved in the work it carried out, seeing for themselves the long-term benefits of helping young children read as well as providing financial support,” said David Scott, founding and senior partner of Vesta Wealth.

US Tax & Financial was delighted to support this event and help raise over £15,000 for Beanstalk.

About Vestra Wealth: An experienced investment team that understands the intricacies of both UK and US investment options.  They build tax efficient portfolios for individuals and families exposed to both US and UK regulatory constraints, where managing wealth is not always straightforward.  If you would like to contact Vestra Wealth, call  +44 203 207 8464 or send an email to info@lgtvestra.com

For more about Beanstalk: Visit their website at http://www.beanstalkcharity.org.uk, call +44 20 7729 4087 or send an email to: info@beanstalkcharity.org.uk.

And as always, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us.