Agents Do Charity - keeping charities and events running

It's been a busy period of fundraising and volunteering for agents and property professionals.

Support has included getting one charity back on the road, while others helped keep the Commonwealth Games running.

If there are charitable endeavours you think the rest of the industry should know about, please email us on press@estateagenttoday.co.uk, or get in touch via our social platforms, and we’ll do the rest.

Linley & Simpson: After being left “heartbroken” when callous thieves stole one of its vans that collects donations, a Yorkshire hospice is back on the road - thanks Yorkshire agent Linley & Simpson.

It responded by putting the wheels in motion to donate £20,000 to Martin House Children’s Hospice to buy a replacement van.

The keys to the new vehicle were picked up from Linley & Simpson chairman, Will Linley, by former Yorkshire TV and Calendar News presenter Christine Talbot, who is also a long-standing Martin House ambassador.
 
The hospice team relies heavily on its three vans to transport furniture and other goods across its network of shops throughout Yorkshire, or to collect donations.

Without wheels, it was unable to collect the full amount of important donations, which can raise up to £170,000 a month for children and young people with life-limiting conditions.

The vehicle was stolen from the charity’s furniture warehouse at Thorp Arch, near Wetherby, earlier in the year. Despite a widespread police and media appeal for information, it remains missing.

Stephanie Rimmington, head of retail at Martin House, said: “We are thrilled to be back behind the wheel, thanks to our friends at our long-standing charity partners Linley & Simpson,” said 

“Without their donation, we could have been without a van for months while our insurance claim is processed, adding to an already challenging situation amid Covid.

“By replacing the stolen van much quicker, our retail team is now able to get back out on the road, collecting donations to keep our retail outlets fully stocked, and generating more income for the hospice.”

Martin House has been a charity partner of Linley & Simpson for several years, during which time its staff have already helped raise more than £100,000.

Linley added: “We shared the whole community’s shock at news of the theft. The fantastic work of the Martin House team touches the lives of so many people across Yorkshire, so we welcomed the opportunity to help.

“Many of our people have volunteered at the hospice, and our branches act as collection points for bric-a-brac that its shops can sell, so the work of the warehouse and the vans is very close to our hearts.”

The £20,000 donation is over and above an extra £25,000 that the agency is aiming to raise for the hospice this year in a series of charity challenges to mark its 25th anniversary.

Principle: Volunteers from Principle Estate Management helped keep the successful Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games running.

The property management specialists with offices in Birmingham and London has a vision to “positively impact the everyday lives of our communities,” and staff are actively encouraged to take part in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.

Staff members Andy Cleverley and Kathryn Williams put their names forward and Catherine Ghaffoori sang at the Opening Ceremony.

Cleverley said: “After seeing the volunteers for the London 2012 Olympics, I just thought it looks like such a fun experience. Being a real people person, I knew I’d enjoy being outdoors, chatting and welcoming spectators and generally ensuring people enjoyed their time in Birmingham.

“I signed up for updates from Birmingham 2022 and in June 2021 they opened applications to become a volunteer so I applied right away. I didn’t hear anything for a few months, until I got an invite to an interview around October time.

“Apparently more than 45,000 applied and there were 15,000 spaces so I was delighted when I found out I’d been picked to be part of the ‘Commonwealth Collective’ in February. From there, I took part in Role Specific Training and Venue Specific Training onsite at the Arena, Birmingham – where the gymnastics were being held.”

Williams was first involved at the beginning of the year where she was part of the selection process, whittling 45,000 potential candidates down to the 15,000 required.

She was then also a general volunteer undertaking a number of roles at Smithfield which hosted basketball, beach volleyball, and one of the Commonwealth Games festival sites.

Operations director Stephanie Jobson said: “We offer an extra day of leave per year for our staff to support an organisation, charity or event of their choice.

“So it was no surprise when three of the Principle team expressed an interest in volunteering to help at the Games.”

Conveyancing Foundation: The Conveyancing Foundation has reached a charity fundraising milestone of more than £900,000 in just over a decade.

The Foundation, which was launched in 2010, has helped its affiliate, leading online conveyancing practice Convey Law and others raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for deserving causes through its Charity Lotto.

For a simple donation of just £10 at the end of their transaction, its Charity Lotto gives clients the chance to win £500 to help pay for their conveyancing costs. The legal practice running the Lotto chooses where charity funds are directed.

The money raised over the past decade includes £375,000 donated to Ty Hafan Children’s Hospice in South Wales, more than £30,000 for the DEC Ukraine Appeal and support for SANDS, The MS Society, The Epilepsy Society, the Sparkle Appeal, the Little Princess Trust, Cancer Research Wales, the Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff, Many Tears Animal Rescue, Boomerang Cardiff and the Caerwent Youth Centre in Monmouthshire.

Lloyd Davies, chairman of the Conveyancing Foundation,  said: “We have achieved so much for so many charities – including Ty Hafan and the DEC Ukraine Appeal - in a relatively short space of time but it is a team effort.

“Everyone who works for the Foundation, the staff and conveyancers at our member legal practices, industry organisations and experts, charities and media who have backed us and the many businesses in the sector who have sponsored and supported us – all had their part to play and I thank them all for their support and generosity.

“I am delighted that the Charity Lotto has enabled us to achieve so much and I urge others to contact the Conveyancing Foundation to see how we can help them to support the charities that are dear to them as well as looking after their staff and each other.”

Eddisons: A team of colleagues from property group Eddisons’ eastern regional offices, in Peterborough, Huntingdon and Bury St Edmunds, are setting out to walk all 47 miles of the Norfolk Coast Path from Hunstanton to Cromer in just 24 hours next month.

They aim to raise £10,000 for the Sue Ryder charity.

The colleagues, who have been training for their mammoth coastal trek throughout August, were inspired to raise money for Sue Ryder which provides expert and passionate palliative care to people living with life-limiting conditions, by their colleague and friend David Park.

David, a director in Eddisons’ Peterborough building and project consultancy team, was diagnosed with cancer in 2021.

The Eddisons team, joined by David’s son, Cameron, who works for M&G Investments, plan to begin the gruelling walk from Hunstanton on the morning of Thursday 8 September, trekking throughout the night along the coastal route and reaching Cromer on Friday morning.

Martin Hughes, eastern region director for Eddisons, said: “It’s quite ambitious to try and complete this route in just 24 hours and it will definitely be tough trekking right through the night, but we’re determined to reach our £10,000 fundraising goal for Sue Ryder, with £5,000 sponsorship already secured. 

“We are all spurred on by the knowledge that the money we raise will help fund much-needed expert end-of-life care and we’re currently all training hard whenever we can to try and make sure we’re in the best physical shape for this challenge.

“It’s been great training together as a team of colleagues and friends. Hopefully our hard work will pay off and we will complete the 47 miles in a respectable time and with a good result for Sue Ryder.”

Vicki Lunn, community fundraising and operations officer at Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice in added: “A big thank you to the team at Eddisons for taking on this epic challenge to support Sue Ryder. It’s very touching to see them all pull together, in honour of their colleague and friend, David. The money they raise will make a big difference in helping us to continue to be there when it matters for people going through the most difficult times of their lives.”
 
Find out more and donate:  www.justgiving.com/fundraising/eddisons-coastal-walk-for-sue-ryder

Strutt & Parker: A director at Strutt & Parker is preparing to row 144 miles from Lechlade-on-Thames to London in aid of Mind and FOPPS (Friends of Pangbourne Primary School).

Tom Waltham, senior associate director at Strutt & Parker, said he will take part in this event having never rowed before.
He has been training since May for what will be a five-day journey,  including a fundraising event at his second day stop-off point on Pangbourne Meadow on Tuesday 6 September.

Find out more and donate:  www.justgiving.com/team/lechladetolondon