Agents Do Charity - two weeks before Christmas...

The traditional festive spirit of estate agency does not extend simply to decorating offices - it’s about doing good work, too.

This week’s entries reflect just how socially-minded the agency industry actually is, despite perceptions to the contrary. If you wish to publicise your agents’ great work, drop us a line at press@estateagenttoday.co.uk - that’s what these good people did...

Norwood: Two Aston Chase employees, Kat Vambe and Simon Rosenblatt embarked on a challenge have cycled 420 kilometres through Death Valley in California over five days. They are raising money for Norwood, the charity aiming to support vulnerable children, families and people with learning disabilities. 

“It was an exceptionally proud moment when our riders successfully completed the demanding challenge of cycling 261 miles through Death Valley. Everyone worked incredibly hard leading up to the ride with their training and fundraising efforts, which ultimately enabled the group as a whole to raise over £80,000 for this exceptionally worthy cause” says Simon Rosenblatt from Aston Chase.

“It was a pleasure riding with the group and in particular, Laurence, who is one of Norwood’s service users. It was inspirational to watch him ride through the long desert roads and steep mountain climbs on the tandem bike with his care worker Alan. Norwood is a charity that’s particularly close to home. Having experienced this challenge with such an amazing group of people, it will forever remain as one of the highlights in my life that I would recommend to anyone.”

The charity raises approximately £12m annually through voluntary funding. More details of the event can be found on https://www.norwood.org.uk/Page/Challenges-DeathValleyCycle

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Cystic Fibrosis Trust: Chelsea agent Maskells is sponsoring ‘Carols by Candlelight’ at the local St Luke’s church on December 17. It’s in support of The Alice Martineau Appeal, a charity that raises money for crucial gene therapy research funded by the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.   

“I have a little girl called Lara and one of her best friends, Sophia, has Cystic Fibrosis. Knowing her parents and seeing the effect of the disease on the family we were keen to see what we could so as a company to help raise funds and awareness of her condition” explains Charles Curran, principal of Maskells.

Tickets can be bought from the Trust on 0203 795 2176, and if you instruct Maskells to let or sell your home and mention this article, Maskells will make a further donation to the Trust on completion.

Crohn’s and Colitis UK has benefited from a generous donation from The Law Practice Leasing, a Scottish firm which pledged to donate a percentage of its profits from all leases drawn up during autumn. 

Half of the money raised will be sent to the charity’s HQ for research. The other half will fund an activity for 65 youngsters in north east Scotland who suffer from Crohn’s or Colitis.

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Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service: Staff at Romans have smashed their annual charity target and raised over £53,000 for this charity. The firm committed to raising £30,000 but this was handsomely exceeded. 

The money was raised through a combination of challenging and imaginative events, including; marathons, go-karting, golf competitions, cycling events, bodybuilding, sponsored walks, colour runs, auctions, and even the Great Romans Bald Off whereby two very brave employees agreed to shave off all of their hair.

Co-founder of the charity, Fiona Devine, comments: “The support of Romans is truly inspirational. Their passion, enthusiasm and dedication are fantastic and we are so grateful for everything they have done for us. We cannot thank them enough.”

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End Youth Homelessness: Fine & Country agents around the country have taken part in sponsored sleep out events to raise vital funds to prevent youth homelessness, in association with the Fine & Country Foundation.

Five offices volunteered to sleep rough, including Abergavenny, Banbury, Coventry, Leamington Spa, and Mayfair. Overall, the teams raised a fantastic total of over £6,000. 

The money raised for the Fine & Country Foundation will be distributed to charities which work to prevent homelessness in the UK, including Centrepoint, Helping Hands and St Basils.

The Sleepout is a nationwide event organised by the End Youth Homelessness campaign. Each individual Sleepout event partners with a local charity, so the money raised by Fine & Country agents will have an impact on homelessness in the area that they participated in.

If you would like to donate to the team, please visit www.justgiving.com/fandcfoundationsleepout