Agents Do Charity: the close shave for the hairy upper lip edition…

If you haven’t noticed, it’s November already - a month where it’s increasingly popular for men to grow moustaches for charity. Mo-vember is becoming bigger and we mention it in this week’s record of great fund-raising.

But it’s not the only show in town, especially as Christmas approaches - so please let us know what you’re doing for good causes as we near the festive period. Just email us on press@estateagenttoday.co.uk and we’ll take it from there.

Now, where’s my shaver?

Karl Jones mental health awareness: The founder of lettings agency My Property Box, Ben Quaintrell, was so moved by Darlington boxer Karl Jones’ battle against depression that his company is now sponsoring the inspirational boxer.

Karl - who was himself inspired by former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury’s own well-publicised fight against depression – recently took part in a charity boxing match.

Ben says: “I was moved by Karl’s determination to overcome his depression which took him to the very brink and how, through boxing and professional support, he is turning his life around.”

My Property Box is sponsoring Karl to take part in a forthcoming boxing match in Middlesbrough and the Darlington-based company is determined to make a positive contribution to tackling the issues surrounding mental distress.

At any one time a sixth of England’s population aged 16 to 64 have a mental health problem, whilst government figures revealed that in 2018 the North East had the country’s highest male suicide rate with 20.4 deaths per 100,000 population.

He adds: “I’m thrilled to support Karl financially in his pursuit of boxing, but I’m also determined to make a positive contribution to improve mental wellbeing.”

Ben is involving his team in a mental health awareness course run by Corporate Personal Fitness of Darlington. “This will allow our staff to spot the early signs of mental distress among work colleagues, friends and family – allowing them to seek the necessary help and support long before they reach the lonely position that Karl found himself in.”

Karl is fighting in championship boxing event X-Plosive 8, which includes a number of bouts on the card, at Teesside University’s The Hub on Saturday November 16, starting at 6pm.

Tickets start at £25 and for details email Jonezno2@yahoo.com

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BBC Children In Need: Staff from Saxon Shore Estate Agents pulled on their hiking boots and set off on our now annual Countryfile Ramble in aid of BBC Children In Need, along the Saxon Shore Way.   

Liz Jeffrey, who kindly let us know about this, says: “It was a fantastic day once again with around thirty people from our local community joining us with ages ranging from seven to 70-plus.  Ramblers paid to join in and we ran a raffle with prizes being donated from local Faversham Businesses, from this we raised a fantastic £600. It was a great day enjoyed by all, we are already looking forward to next year!”

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RNLI: Rentshield Direct has been in touch, too, explaining about their fantastic fundraising for the RNLI. 

Marketing executive Georgina Bowen says: “Living down on the South coast of Devon, we get to see more than most,  some of the amazing work the RNLI do and often, risking their own lives to save others.” 

Her team market Halloween in style, including managers who braved the weather to get ‘sponged’ by those who paid for the privilege.

“Our efforts raised a further £98 for the charity pot, taking the total this year to date to £549.50. With two months of the year to go, we will continue to come up with creative and fun ways to raise money and encourage everyone to get involved and do their bit for charity” says Georgina.

Well done everyone!

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The Movember Foundation: Staff at a Worcestershire agent have been given a clean shave so they can start growing moustaches to help raise awareness of men’s health issues.

The push by five colleagues at the Droitwich and Worcester offices of Nicol & Co comes after the company’s mortgage advisor Nick Marsh was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer.

The team hopes to raise up to £1,000 for The Movember Foundation, with team members Matt Nicol, Shaun Crowe, Nick Marsh, Luke Alexander and Richard Nicol taking part.

Matt, the firm’s managing director, says: “This is the 10th consecutive year that the company has supported Movember, but it’s even closer to our hearts this year after Nick was diagnosed. This is someone I have worked closely with since 2004 when I began work as a junior negotiator and we’re all keen to raise as much money as possible.”

Globally, more than 1.4m men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year and The Movember Foundation is working to halve the number of deaths from this condition by 2030.

Nick, who has now recovered after his treatment adds: “This is a top effort by my close friends at Nicol & Co and I’m so glad that they are trying to raise awareness.The more we can do to get men to check themselves out, the sooner we can reduce deaths from prostate cancer by getting people the early diagnosis and treatment they need.”

Maisy Hutley: Hampshire based RoyaleLife, the largest manufacturer of bungalows in the UK, has donated £5,000 towards a state of the art wheelchair for a young girl with spinal muscular atrophy.

Nine year old Maisy received the generous donation after her family launched a campaign to raise £14,000 for an adaptable wheelchair.

Maisy was born with type 2 Spinal Muscular Atrophy but only received her diagnosis at 15 months. Since then her family have embarked on a number of fundraising efforts to keep Maisy kitted out with the vital equipment that she needs. 

RoyaleLife chief executive Robert Bull says: “Maisy is the daughter of one of our long-standing suppliers and when we heard that she had outgrown her old wheelchair we were thrilled to help her raise money for a new one.”