Agents Do Charity - from Down Under to the London Marathon…

Hello and welcome to the end of the week…which must mean Agents Do Charity.

There’s plenty to admire in this week’s entries; if you want support and publicity across the industry for your upcoming fund-raising, please email us at press@estateagenttoday.co.uk and of course we’d be delighted to help.

Here we go with this week’s heroes.

Hands Across The Water: Our first entry this week is a special one, about Australia and south east Asia.

Real estate agents from down under are cycling 500 kilometres along the Mekong River in south east Asia to fundraise for this great charity, which helps orphaned children.

This was organised by founder Peter Baines and Steve Carrol, chief executive of Digital Live in Australia and formerly of the portal Realestate - Australia’s Rightmove equivalent. Steve is a digital marketing expert, formerly from Sheffield and now living in Australia.

The event will be joined  by some of the industry heavyweights from Australia including Lisa Novak, regarded by many as Australia’s leading female real estate expert, Lee Woodward, founder and leading coach at The Real Estate Academy; and Andre Reece, founder of Inspect Real Estate.

Now here’s the British connection - the team from Victorstone property consultancy in London will be the only riders from outside Australia taking part. 

You can find more details and make a contribution here.

And good luck from everyone at Estate Agent Today!

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Crisis, Children In Need, Cornwall Air Ambulance and other charities: Staff at portal company Zoopla have raised £66,000 for charity with over 40 organisations benefitting.

There have been events throughout 2019 ranging from a sky dive to a 25k trek, from a 12 hour Fortnite playing session to a Sanbta Splash Challenge.

In addition Zoopla agreed to match up to £500 raised from fundraising events and activities in aid of its six employee-nominated charity partners, and up to £250 for any other charity. The firm also held a Good Deed Day, with staff given a day to volunteer for a registered charity or non-profit organisation close to their heart.

Zoopla’s chief people officer Catrin Anderson says: “We’re a passionate bunch and it’s great to see so many team members take on daunting challenges to support our fundraising targets. We look forward to continuing to support a diverse range of charities and organisations in 2020 and beyond.”

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Linley & Simpson’s £30,000 Charity Pot: Linley & Simpson has launched a £30,000 pot available to schools, sports clubs and community clubs across North, West and East Yorkshire. 

Will Linley, chief executive, says: “We pride ourselves on playing an integral part in our local communities and this initiative is all about helping a range of good causes where support such as this can make a big difference. We promote an inclusive approach amongst our employees and encourage involvement in all of our community activities and I’m pleased to say that our staff are very much on board with the initiative.”

The agency also acts as a flagship partner for Martin House Children’s Hospice and has raised over £70,000 for the charity during the last five years. Will adds: “We are committed to our ongoing fundraising efforts and this year we have planned a whole host of events including, the annual Martin House Dragon Boat Race, a company bake-off, the Total Warrior at Bramham Park and an inter-branch accumulator challenge. In addition to fundraising for Martin house, our staff are all encouraged to volunteer for them, getting paid time off to carry this out.”

You can apply for a grant here.

Norwood YN Property Awards: Leading property figures this month attended Norwood’s 14th annual YN Property Awards Dinner to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for the UK’s largest Jewish charity - it supports vulnerable children and their families, children with special educational needs, and people with learning disabilities and autism in London and the south-east. 

The dinner also recognised the industry’s greatest performers in 2019 and amongst the winners were: 

Property Start-up of the Year: Flatfair;

Property Company of the Year: Fusion Students who is delivering a £40m student hall complex in Cardiff and a £26m mixed-use scheme in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. 

Jacob Loftus, co-chair of the YN Property Awards judging panel, says: “Our industry is never stronger than when coming together to support those most in need and it was amazing to see more than 600 people join us to celebrate future talent and raise money for Norwood.” 

Franz Doerr, founder of flatfair, reacted to his win saying: “We are thrilled to be recognised by Young Norwood as Property Start-Up of the Year. Winning this award demonstrates our continued success within the industry, as we use payment technology to make renting fairer for everyone. With 225 years of history, it is fantastic to receive an accolade from an established organisation like Norwood, and to be part of the night which raised money for such a worthy cause.”

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Child Bereavement and CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserable): Rob Brady from industry supplier Iceberg Digital writes: “I’m currently training for the London Marathon; I started on the first week of January having not run for seven years. I’m doing it with my Mum and raising money for the following causes due to experiences close to my heart. I have already had support for the estate agency community with some amazing donations.”

Good luck from us, Rob; if readers want to contribute, please do so here.