Tag: tips

Experience Affordable Luxury At Durham Housing Development

By on 25th April 2016in Lifestyle

Local housebuilder, David Wilson Homes, is urging house hunters looking to buy in the Durham area to visit its luxury Mount Oswald development, which features a premium collection of four and five bedroom homes available in 11 beautiful designs. Each house is crafted with the very best materials and finishes, offering spectacular views of the surrounding woodland and open areas.

Buyers visiting Mount Oswald can view a range of quality homes from the 5* housebuilder, including the Blackthorne housetype, a beautiful five bedroom, three-storey home with a generous lounge, family room, dining room and kitchen with a beautiful orangery. Upstairs leads to four bedrooms, one with an en suite, and a family bathroom, whilst the second floor has a den and fifth bedroom with an en suite. The Blackthorne is now available to buy from £599,995.

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Steve Ball, Sales Manager for Mount Oswald, commented: “Mount Oswald is a fantastic development with a great community feel in a beautiful setting, so close to Durham city centre. We have a wide range of properties available and the sales team is always on hand to discuss your buying options. We would advise buyers to come along and truly experience the luxury of the development.”

To find out more about David Wilson Homes in the North East, please visit: www.dwh.co.uk.

Can I Avoid Selling The Family Home To Pay For Long Term Care Fees?

By on 13th April 2016in Local Biz

With no prospect of a Government cap on long term care costs, and annual fees for care homes exceeding £30,000, having to sell the family home to pay for a place in a care home is a major worry for many older people.

But is it possible to protect the family home and other assets from the impact of long term care fees, asks Andrew Simpson, Lead Panel Solicitor with legal and financial planning specialist Ensure Inheritance.

Legal trusts, often known as Wealth Preservation Trusts, when used for estate planning purposes can have the useful side effect of protecting assets from the impact of long term care fees, but they cannot be used specifically to avoid care fees.

Many people do not realise that current legislation demands that anyone owning assets valued in excess of £23,250 is required to make a 100% contribution towards the cost of their care. However, anyone requiring care with assets worth less than £14,250 is not required to make any contribution from their capital.

The legislation also prevents people from deliberately moving their assets in order to avoid paying care fees. But it does not prevent anyone in relatively good health, who is not presently intending going into long term care, from estate planning and establishing a Wealth Preservation Trust.

By placing assets in a Wealth Preservation Trust, you are no longer (technically) the owner of the assets, but rather the principal beneficiary of the trust. So it can fully protect your assets for your children, provided the local authority cannot prove that at the time the trust was set up it was reasonably foreseeable you would enter long term care.

Using a Wealth Preservation Trust to plan your estate is a powerful means of achieving total control over what happens to your assets, who benefits from them, and who controls them.

Wealth Preservation Trusts can avoid claims on your estate after your death; reduce the time it takes for beneficiaries to receive their inheritance; protect your children against disinheritance; protect your assets from bankruptcy; protect your assets from divorce, as well as protecting your assets from the impact of long term care fees.

Setting up Wealth Preservation Trust is a job for a specialist solicitor who can establish the trust to meet your particular needs and future wishes, according to your unique set of financial circumstances.

Ensure Inheritance has produced a booklet which provides further information on Wealth Preservation Trusts. For a free copy, please contact Ensure Inheritance on tel. 0191 338 5143, via email at info@ensureinheritance.co.uk or via its website www.ensureinheritance.co.uk.

Based in Seaham in County Durham, Ensure Inheritance provides a range of legal and financial planning services which help protect financial assets to provide their clients and their loved ones with peace of mind. In addition to long term care planning and wealth preservation trusts, services include funeral planning and pre-payment plans, Wills and Estate planning, funeral planning, inheritance tax planning, powers of attorney, court of protection deputyships, and probate.

Further Durham City Roadworks Begin 11th April

By on 6th April 2016in In & Around

Major works on the main route through Durham City will start on Leazes Bowl roundabout in April which will result in easier journeys in the future…

Durham County Council’s £2.5m SCOOT system will see traffic lights installed on the Gilesgate and Leazes Bowl roundabouts during 2016. The installation of the traffic lights will also see improvements to pedestrian and cycle facilities on both roundabouts.

With work progressing well on Gilesgate roundabout, work on Leazes Bowl roundabout will get underway on Monday, 11 April. Although all measures are being taken to minimise the impact on traffic, motorists should be aware that disruption is likely while the work on Leazes Bowl is carried out.

As well as the installation of traffic lights, the improvements will also see the configuration of the roundabout changed with the number of lanes being increased. Paths will be widened with dropped kerbs installed to improve accessibility and two new eastbound bus stops will be installed, set back from the carriageway.

The work will be carried out in a number of phases over the next 25 weeks to help reduce the impact on people travelling through the city.

From 11 April, the first phase of work will see the eastbound approach to Leazes Bowl roundabout reduced to one lane from just past Milburngate Bridge on the A690 for the first part of the week. However the restriction will be removed during the evening rush hour – between 3.30pm and 7.00pm.

Heading westbound on the A690, there will only be one lane open on the approach to Leazes Bowl roundabout, through the works and over the roundabout for the duration of the week. However the restrictions will be removed during the morning rush hour – 7.00am to 9.30am. All lanes over Milburngate Bridge will remain open and the approach to Leazes Bowl roundabout from New Elvet will also be reduced to one lane at the junction with the roundabout throughout the week. The subway under the bridge will be closed with pedestrians diverted over Claypath.

Future phases of the work will be publicised closer to the time.

People can see full details at either www.durham.gov.uk/LeazesBowl or www.durham.gov.uk/Gilesgate which also includes changes to bus services, links to traffic cameras that people can check before setting off and tips to avoid delays. Motorists are also advised to keep up to date with the latest on social media using #LeazesBowl and #Gilesgate.

Adrian White, Durham County Council’s head of transport and contract services, said: “Once installed the SCOOT system promises to improve journeys for everyone travelling through the city in addition to improving the roundabouts to make life easier for pedestrians.

“While we’ve taken all measures to minimise disruption, we are working on the major route through Durham City so people should be aware there may be delays. We would like to thank everyone for their patience while we carry out these important improvements.”

The work at Gilesgate roundabout is expected to last until May with the work at Leazes Bowl finished by autumn 2016.

Once installed, the new traffic lights will be coordinated with those already in place on the Milburngate roundabout to better manage the flow of vehicles through the city. This will mean much more predictable travel through Durham City at peak times making journeys easier for motorists and helping bus operators to plan services.

It will also enable the council to more effectively deal with the impacts of incidents and planned events on the road network. The council hopes to start using the SCOOT system in 2017.

Sound Advice From AYP Financial Planning

By on 2nd April 2016in Lifestyle

It’s a fact of modern life that as many as 40% of all marriages in the UK end in divorce. The break-up can be a traumatic time for all concerned and brings with it the need to make financial arrangements that can have ramifications for years after the settlement is made.

There are no hard and fast rules governing how assets should be divided, although there is a broad starting point of 50:50. If the divorcing couple are unable to come to an agreement on the division of their financial assets, the court will decide how these should be apportioned between them, based on factors such as their age, earnings ability, property and investments and role in the relationship (e.g. breadwinner or primary carer). The needs of any children of the marriage are always considered paramount.

AYP Financial Planning specialise in providing advice on divorce and can offer sympathetic, patient and pragmatic support throughout the whole process. You will need help to decide on your future financial goals, review your mortgage, life insurance, savings and investment plans and you’ll need to remake your will. Post-divorce, reorganising your finances is an essential step in moving forward to a new life.

Contact AYP Financial Planning for a confidential review now. First meeting is without charge but could prove to be the best time you ever spend. We can help, contact AYP Financial Planning on 01434 607808 or email info@aypfinancial.co.uk.

Campaign Launches To Boost County Durham Recycling

By on 25th February 2016in In & Around

A campaign is to be launched to encourage even higher levels of household recycling in County Durham…

Durham County Council has secured almost £31,000 from the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to promote its national Recycle Now ‘Good to Know’ campaign locally.

The council will promote the six month long Good to Know campaign from next Monday 22nd February.

The campaign aims to raise awareness of the different types of materials that can be recycled from different rooms of the home in the blue lidded recycling bins and recycling boxes, including those from which WRAP believes recycling rates are lower.

Good to Know will see the council’s strategic waste team getting the message out at school assemblies and roadshows, through social media, knocking on doors and handing out leaflets. The campaign message will also be advertised in newspapers and on the back of buses, as well as on radio.

Officers will also be giving out bin stickers, and putting stickers on recyclable items in Durham’s Sainsbury’s store.

Around half of the population already recycle, and the campaign aims to encourage people to do more by highlighting the benefits. For example, one drinks can could save enough energy to power a TV for four hours, and plastic bottles can be recycled and made into a chair.

Alan Patrickson, the council’s Head of Projects and Business Services, said: “More than six out of ten of us now describe ourselves as committed recyclers, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t do more.

“This campaign will raise awareness about the products people might still be unsure of, and help those that already do their part to recycle extra items and different materials that they might not have thought of.”

Good to Know will run alongside the council’s ongoing Bin it Right campaign, which aims to get people to put the right items in the right bin, in order to stop recyclable material being contaminated and made unusable.

Careers Service Spearheads Campaign Against Gender Stereotypes

By on 24th February 2016in Local Biz

The National Careers Service in the North East is spearheading a campaign to challenge gender stereotypes in the workplace…

As part of the campaign, the National Careers Service is helping careers advice professionals educate students across the region on the diverse range of opportunities open to them in the North East, regardless of gender. This has included attending careers briefings at colleges and schools in the region.

Labour market research by the National Careers Service in the North East reveals:

  • 21% of the science, engineering and manufacturing workforce is female.
  • Women make up only 9% of the UK’s engineering professionals.
  • 16% of IT specialists working in the North East are female.
  • 12% of applicants to computing degree courses are female.
  • Men make up less than 16% of the nursing care home workforce.
  • Men make up less than 20% of the social care workforce.
  • 67% of the Crown Prosecution Service workforce is female.
  • About 74% of the 20,000 members of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives are women.

The National Careers Service in the North East is employing the latest technology to showcase its findings. The App – Challenging Occupational Gender Stereotyping (COGS) – funded through the Equality and Diversity Innovation Fund was designed to help address gender discrepancies in a range of professions including IT, healthcare and engineering.

Carly Hinds, Partnership Manager for the National Careers Service in the North East, said: “The App can be used to help open up the minds of young men and women in the region to the wider spectrum of careers opportunities available.

“We want to debunk the misconception that some sectors are the domain of mainly males or females.

“We are employing the latest technology through the creation of an app which challenges the gender disparities within some industries across the region, such as engineering and healthcare.”

The App featured prominently in a recent event at Stockton Riverside College’s Bede Sixth Form. Alice Atkinson, Careers Coordinator for Bede Sixth Form, said: “I felt it was important for the National Careers Service to attend our Respect Festival, as many young people do not realise key sectors in the North East offer great opportunities for both men and women, and that employers welcome diversity.

“It is important for young people across the North East to not feel held back by their gender when pursuing a career they feel passionate about. Our work with the National Careers Service in the North East is there to encourage our students to challenge gender stereotypes within the workplace.”

The National Careers Service in the North East is behind the Supporting Inspiration project, which helps young people develop an appreciation of the world of work, local labour markets, the skills needs for different business sectors and career opportunities open to them.

It has established a Supporting Inspiration portal, which aims to transform the way employers contribute to making young people in the region work-ready.

The service, which is part of the Government’s Inspiration agenda, uses the portal to match up employers willing to inform students about the world of work, with schools and colleges across the region.

It connects with employers in Durham, Northumberland, Tees Valley, Tyneside and Wearside, who can offer a range of careers education support such as providing work experience placements, mentoring students face-to-face and online, and attending careers fairs.

Court Battle Is Stark Reminder To Update Wills

By on 15th February 2016in Lifestyle

Joy Williams has learned the hard way what happens when Wills aren’t kept up to date…

 

Simply updating his Will would have ensured that a former dentist’s share of the family home passed to his unmarried partner of 18 years, rather than to his estranged wife, avoiding the legal battle which raged in court last week, according to a North East solicitor who specialises in Wills, Trusts and Estate Planning.

Andrew Simpson, a Lead Panel Solicitor with Seaham-based legal and financial planning specialist Ensure Inheritance, says that although Joy Williams, 69, lived with retired dentist Norman Martin as his partner for nearly two decades, they never married, nor did Mr Martin change his Will. As Mr Martin and Ms Williams owned a three-bedroom home as tenants in common, on his death Mr Martin’s share of the house was not automatically transferred to his partner, but to his estranged wife.

Ms Williams launched a legal challenge against the terms of the Will last week.

“Unfortunately Mr Martin was in the same boat as around 12 million of us who have Wills, but who have not updated them for more than five years to reflect their changed family circumstances,” says Mr Simpson.

“Simply taking advice from a Solicitor and changing his Will would have ensured that his partner’s financial future was secured, and Ms Williams would not risk losing her home.

“If you want to ensure your loved ones benefit from your hard earned efforts after your death, not only do you need to make a Will so that your wishes are carried out, you need to keep it updated to reflect any changes in circumstances.

“The costly and lengthy legal case of Ms Williams, and the possibility of her losing her family home, should be a reminder to us all to review our Wills every five years,” concludes Mr Simpson.

Based in Seaham in County Durham, Ensure Inheritance provides a range of legal and financial planning services which help protect financial assets to provide their clients and their loved ones with peace of mind. In addition to Wills and Estate planning, services include long term care planning, funeral planning, inheritance tax planning, powers of attorney, court of protection deputyships, and probate.

Ensure Inheritance can be contacted on 0191 338 5143, via email at info@ensureinheritance.co.uk or via its website www.ensureinheritance.co.uk.

Top Dentist Warns White Teeth Obsession Suggests Body Dysmorphia

By on 15th February 2016in Lifestyle

One of the UK’s top cosmetic dentists has warned that the obsession for white teeth can be an indicator of a form of body dysmorphia…

A preoccupation with the colour of teeth is commonly recognised as a symptom of BDD (Body Dysmorphic Disorder), a psychological condition where sufferers are fixated about certain aspects of their appearance.

And Dr Ken Harris, of Riveredge Cosmetic Dentistry, which has surgeries in both Sunderland and Newcastle, warns that those desperate for bright white teeth should steer clear of using home treatments or the excessive use of whitening toothpastes which can leave them with severe dental problems.

“Whitening toothpastes do not work,” said Dr Harris.

“They clean off surface stains, but do not touch ugly deep staining, and they are also very abrasive so can wear the enamel off teeth, causing significant damage.”

Dr Harris added that people obsessed with having perfect white teeth often use abrasive pastes and brush aggressively, which can lead to damage.

“No amount of tooth brushing can whiten teeth,” he said.

The abrasive nature of toothpaste is measured by RDA – Relative Dentine Abrasivity – and in 2012 the British Dental Journal said that toothpastes with an RDA of more than 100 were considered abrasive and could damage teeth and gums.

A number of popular whitening toothpastes on the market have an RDA in excess of 100 so are leaving people in danger of potentially damaging their teeth.

Dr Harris said that many people also try to use a variety of substances ranging from lemons to strawberries in the belief their teeth will get whiter.

“None of these processes work,” he said.

“The best way to get a proper and safe whitening treatment is to see a dentist, not attempt it on your own.

“A dentist will also give proper advice on what is suitable and what isn’t, rather than people buying treatments off the internet which simply won’t work, and may even be harmful.”

Dr Harris added that teeth get more yellow with age, and trying to combat this with excessive brushing or whitening toothpaste will, again, just not work.

“The dentine beneath our enamel becomes tougher and more dense over the years, and, as such, it gradually becomes darker in colour,” he said.

“Dentine is the part of the tooth beneath the outer enamel layer of teeth, and therefore can not be reached by toothpaste or brushing.

“The only way to whiten teeth is to get the bleach to soak through the enamel into the deeper dentine where it will do its job.”

Multi-award winner Dr Harris is respected across the globe for his expansive knowledge on cosmetic dentistry, and he regularly teaches around the world.

He is one of only two Fellows of the British Academy of Aesthetic Dentistry (BACD) which involves him teaching other dentists around the UK. He is a full member of the British Academy of Aesthetic Dentistry (BAAD), and regularly teaches USA dentists at the world-renowned Kois Center programme in Seattle.

He regularly travels to North America and Canada, delivering lectures on aesthetic dentistry to practitioners in New York, Vancouver, San Francisco, Orange County, Fresno and San Diego in his role as the Clinical Director for California Centre for Advanced Dental Studies.

His award-winning team also provides general dentistry. For further information, visit www.riveredge.co.uk.

Week Long Roadworks Begin On A688 Over Weekend

By on 12th February 2016in In & Around

Drivers will be diverted as a week of resurfacing takes place on the A688 Spennymoor Bypass…

 

Resurfacing of the carriageway will begin on Saturday 13th February 2016, with lanes closed as Rainton Construction carries out work on behalf of Durham County Council.

John Reed, the council’s head of technical services, said: “These vital works are part of our continuing highway capital maintenance programme to maintain the condition of the highway network.”

The resurfacing is expected to be completed by Sunday 21st February.

During the works westbound traffic will still be able to use the A688, however eastbound traffic will be directed to use a signed diversion.

Alex Nelson’s Places To Go: Bishop Auckland

By on 10th February 2016in Have Your Say

Stationmaster Alex Nelson has been suggesting places to go by train every month for ten years. This month, he’s headed to Bishop Auckland…

Great things are afoot in Bishop Auckland!

Last year I spent an hour with Jonathan Ruffer, the visionary wealth manager and barrister who bought the 13 paintings of Jacob and his Twelve Sons in Auckland Castle from the Church Commissioners, and then bought the Castle to keep them in. The Castle and tearooms have been closed for winter maintenance during January, but are now back open. Throughout the year, they are open every day except Tuesdays, and the admission is £6 for adults, free for under 16s.

Auckland Castle offers guided tours at 11.30 and 14.30 every day (no extra charge), excluding Tuesdays, where you can see the splendid rooms and vistas, as well as the paintings by Francisco de Zurburan (1598-1664). There are other events throughout the year (details on the website), including the popular Bishop Auckland Food Festival, which this year is on 23rd/24th April. A walk in the park costs nothing, although you might get your shoes rather muddy, so take boots. The Deer Shelter is in the care of English Heritage, but there is no charge to walk round it.

Ten trains a day run to Bishop Auckland, which is a branch from the main line at Darlington. So to get there, head for Darlington first. A visit to Bishop Auckland can easily be combined with a free visit to Locomotion, the branch of the National Railway Museum. On arrival at Bishop Auckland, walk up Newgate Street, which is the straight shopping street heading north to the Market Place, and turn right for Auckland Castle where the Bishop of Durham still has an office (although he lives elsewhere in the town).

It takes about 15 minutes to walk to the Castle, which is the focal point of a one-man effort to regenerate a whole town. Even the mediocre old Postchaise and Queen’s Head hotels are being remodelled to create one single mid-market boutique hotel. Already there are 30,000 visitors a year now, compared to 800 when the Bishops were in residence.

Jonathan Ruffer said to me: “I don’t want it to be interesting. I want it to be astonishing.”

This summer, there’s something really astonishing: an epic production on the land to the north of the Castle called KYNREN, the epic story of England, covering 2,000 years on a 7.5 acre stage including a large lake, and 1,000 performers and crew. The scale is truly breathtaking. I saw progress on the site even during my hour with Mr. Ruffer. KYNREN will be performed on 14 occasions over the summer of 2016, starting from Saturday 2nd July until Saturday 17th September. It’s on various Fridays, Saturdays and one Sunday (28th August), and tickets are available now. This is a live action night show that starts as late as 21.30 and finishes 90 minutes later. If you think ‘2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony’, you’ll be thinking along the right lines.

In other news…

Keep the date: Sunday 13th March!

I’m organising a mass visit by train to Teesside Airport station, to ensure it is not the least used station on the National Rail network in 2015/16. The only train of the week leaves Darlington station at 11.05, and you can spend just over an hour at the airport before joining the only train back at 12.35. For one of the weirdest excursions of the year, suitable for children, led by an experienced team… full details soon!

Alex Nelson
Stationmaster

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