It’s been a busy few months here at Future Planning with changes to personnel, the launching of new initiatives, and a continued commitment to local volunteering and charity work.

Keep reading for all the latest.

Your first look at our new mortgage campaign

Launched on 9 May, we’re very excited to introduce our new mortgage campaign, helping first-time buyers onto the property ladder through our newly offered 100% mortgages. 

Our experts can help you or your loved ones find a mortgage if they are first-time buyers over the age of 21 and have previously been renting for at least 12 months (exceptions apply – see our website for more information).

We’ll simply need:

• Proof the applicant has paid rent for at least 12 months in a row, within the last 18 months
• Proof of 12 months’ experience of paying all household bills within the last 18 months
• Proof of no missed payments on debts or credit commitments within the last 6 months.

We can help find a monthly mortgage payment that must be equal to, or lower than, the average of the last six months’ rental cost, with a deposit of less than 5% and a maximum loan size of £600,000.

If you think this new offer could help you or your loved ones get onto the property ladder for the first time, get in touch now.

Please note: The offer does not apply to new-build flats.

Farewells and welcomes

In April, we bid a sad farewell to Samantha Speake. Sam was our client service executive, a role that she made her own throughout her time here.

All of us at Future Planning would like to take this opportunity to thank her for her incredible service and wish her all the best for the future. 

Needless to say, the team came together to give Sam a great send-off!

We also welcome two new starters this month. We have recruited two apprentices from Cirencester College and Adam Howse joined us on 3 April. 

Adam has made a strong start to his Financial Services Apprenticeship and will be the first point of contact when clients come in or call the office. He’s looking forward to learning about the profession and getting to know our clients (and he also makes a wonderful cup of tea!).

Sam Tupman, meanwhile, joins us on 10 July.

The latest from our Turkey and Syria earthquake appeal fundraiser

Our earthquake appeal – to help those affected by the Turkey and Syria earthquake – remains open and has so far raised an impressive £450. 

If you would like to donate via our Just Giving page, your support would be greatly appreciated.

A year of helping the planet

Last April, we celebrated Earth Day 2022 by announcing that Future Planning had become a carbon-neutral business.

We are officially climate positive, meaning that you can work with us in the knowledge that our interactions won’t detrimentally affect the environment.

We have now been helping to fund renewable energy projects in developing countries worldwide, planting trees, and offsetting our carbon impact for a year, via Ecologi and its eco goals.

We have been awarded the above badges for our continued efforts but our actual figures are even higher:

• Funding the planting of 2,920 trees
• Offsetting the equivalent of 68.25 tons of carbon dioxide.

We look forward to the next 12 months and seeing the continuing positive impact we can make.

Our volunteering efforts continue

Future Planning’s nature-loving team continue to volunteer at our local Wildlife Rescue Centre. We recently spent a wonderful half-day rehoming hedgehogs and owls. 

Here is Sonic, one of two hedgehogs (the other one is called “Spike”) that we helped on the day.

The centre currently has 92 hedgehogs left to re-home, so we’ll be re-homing more over the coming months. We’ve even built them some cosy little houses… Although they like the woodland so much that they have found themselves new homes already! 

A “tortured souls” escape room proves a puzzle too far on our latest team-building day

Our latest team building day took in another escape room, this time, the terrifyingly titled “The Tortured Soul”.

There were plenty of jump scares, but lots of teamwork and laughter too. 

Unfortunately, we ran out of time on the last puzzle, with a few of us stuck in a tiny room under a fireplace. We were relying on the others to save us but sadly time ran out.

During the morning we had a long and productive meeting, discussing objectives and setting goals for the year ahead. 

We’re all really positive and excited about what the next 12 months will bring!