About | Giving Tree

Meet our trustees

All of our trustees are volunteers, which ensures that 100% of all funds raised goes directly to those that need it most.

Philip Turner, Chairman

Philip grew up in East Anglia. As founder and CEO of Chestnut, he has always championed the region, the provenance and the people that make East Anglia so special.
The Giving Tree was formed as a vehicle to support local communities in the region and Philip's passion for ‘giving back’ to those in need means he is a very active member of the charity.

Tori Dexter, Trustee

Tori has worked in marketing, communication and events for the last 20 years, so brings a wealth of knowledge to the charity. She helped set up The Giving Tree in 2020 and has been involved in the development and fundraising efforts ever since. Passionate about helping those less fortunate, Tori’s aim is to keep growing the charity, so it can support more people.

Jodie Kulasi, Trustee

Jodie has worked in accountancy & finance for over 10 years. She is looking forward to her role in The Giving Tree, helping with the smooth day to day running of the charity and ensuring all money raised goes directly back into benefiting the communities in our region.

Giving Tree Standout Moments

Our annual Pub to Pub Cycle Safari is the highlight of our fundraising calendar. Brave volunteers take on the challenge of pedalling over 500km across East Anglia in just 4 days.

Each Christmas Chestnut pubs add a £1 voluntary donation to every bill. To date thanks to their very generous guests The Giving Tree has raised over 58K for East Anglian charities.

Working with Chestnut to provide warm, safe spaces for our community, with complimentary coffee and cake mornings at select pubs across the region. The perfect space to meet and connect.

The Giving Tree and Chestnut have provided volunteers and liquid refreshments for the athletes and supporters of Norfolk Superhero. The bar profits have raised over £41,000 for local Norfolk charities including Nourishing Norfolk and Norfolk Lowland Search and Rescue.

We have donated over 30,000 meals, food bags and Christmas hampers to care workers and families in need across Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk.

We work closely with our charity partner 'Something To Look Forward To' to provide overnight stays and dining experiences for terminally ill cancer patients.

Report and accounts

As a registered charitable trust (1211394) The Giving Tree Charity publishes annual, independently examined accounts.

Our first set of accounts will be published here in December 2025.

Contact us

Tori Dexter

Unit 2-3 The Tavern

The Wheelwrights

Lower Green, Higham

Bury St Edmunds

Suffolk

IP28 6NL

Our story

Following the sudden closure of Chestnut pubs back in the Covid Pandemic of March 2020, the team and the chefs found themselves in limbo and missing the team morale and the buzz of a busy restaurant.

Rather than wait for the pubs to re-open, the team decided to do what they do best and cook delicious healthy meals for people – initially for all of the front-line workers that had been working so hard to keep us all safe.

The initiative gained great momentum and after a few months the team of volunteers raised over £60,000, cooked and delivered over 30,000 meals to over 25 care homes, hospitals and hospices in the region.

This heralded the birth of The Giving Tree – a name that symbolises laying down our routes in the community and giving back to those in need.

Since 2020 The Giving Tree has raised over £280,000 for charity initiatives in and around East Anglia and has become an important part of the local community.