Agents Do Charity - with two VERY big donations…

Hello and welcome to Agents Do Charity, our weekly opportunity to salute suppliers and agents fund-raising for good causes.

We appreciate how difficult it is to fund-raise right now as the market is being rebuilt and social distancing makes traditional activities so difficult. But if you are able to fund-raise, just drop us a line and we can publicise your hard work - press@estateagenttoday.co.uk.

We have just two reports this week - but they’re spectacular…

Trussell Trust: Third-party mortgage servicer Computer Loan Services has donated £10,000 from its Charity Donations Fund to the Trussell Trust, the charity which supports a nationwide network of 1,200 food bank centres providing emergency food to people in the UK.

Computershare Loan Services sets aside £20,000 annually for its donations fund to help prevent financial hardship and support those experiencing money problems.

By donating £10,000 to the Trussell Trust, Computershare says it hopes to play a part in supporting people who require emergency food and need to use food banks as they are unable to afford the basics because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Samantha Stapley, chief operating officer at the Trussell Trust, says: “Our teams are working tirelessly to ensure that food banks are able to remain open and have the necessary stocks to respond to this crisis.”

“Computershare’s support means we can remain agile to respond to the fast-changing situation and ensure food banks continue to provide the lifeline of emergency food and additional support for people in crisis. Thank you.”

And Andrew Jones, chief executive at Computershare, adds: “These are particularly trying times for many households, and we believe that supporting the Trussell Trust will mean we can help lend assistance to people who need it most particularly during the pandemic.

“In the past two years, we’ve been able to give support to a wide variety of organisations doing wonderful work helping those with financial difficulties — as well as those focused on widening understanding of money and how best to avoid hardship — and we look forward to doing so again later this year.”

Computershare Loan Services has given more than £40,000 to UK charities focused on issues relating to financial difficulties since the October 2017 launch of its Charity Donations Fund.

It is now accepting applications for up to £5,000 for its next round of funding.

St Saviour’s School, Lewisham: In 2018, The Acorn Group decided to completely refurbish and restock (with the public’s support) the library of St Saviour’s School in Lewisham. 

The project had such a positive impact on the lives of children within the school, that Acorn decided to develop the book collection idea into an ongoing initiative.

The Acorn Book Club is now the primary focus of the group’s charitable giving and is working with schools throughout South East London and North Kent to ensure children have free access to good quality books.

There were big plans for 2020, which were derailed by the Covid-19 crisis, but rather than the planned refurbishment and redesign of the library of Lyndhurst School in Camberwell London, the Acorn Book Club is instead making a huge donation of around 1,000 books (which have been kept in quarantine for the past three months) for pupils to enjoy upon their return to school life.

The charity has also resumed its drive for donations of pre-loved books from the public which can be made at any Acorn Group office across South London and Kent. 

Until it’s safe to resume the charity’s usual larger projects, plans have been reworked to accommodate for socially distant donations to be made to local schools to ensure all children have free access to the facilities they deserve.