Agents Do Charity - feeling the love

Agents and property professionals are spreading plenty of charitable love ahead of Valentine's Day.

See some of the inspirational examples below.

Whatever the cause you are working for, at home or abroad, we would love to help. Just send details (and images and videos too, please) to press@estateagenttoday.co.uk and we will let the industry know - and perhaps win some more funds for you too.

Bellway: Amber Britton-Dyer has organised the Bellway’s group sales, marketing, customer care and communications departments to host a Valentine’s Day fundraising event for Cancer Research UK. 

Bellway is aiming to raise £3m for the charity by the end of 2023.

The latest event will take place on Tuesday 14 February at Bellway’s head office.

Amber said: “Our Valentine’s Day fun starts the day off with a delicious big breakfast followed by a wide range of activities throughout the day including a Valentines quiz, guess how many love hearts are in the jar, biscuit decorating, dress down in pink or red, guess the partner/best friend and a raffle.

“To conclude the event, we will announce the winners of our raffle, we have some fantastic prizes that have been kindly donated by our suppliers. We have a team of cupids who are currently in the process of organising a great event to help raise as much money as possible for CRUK.”

The Partnership: Conveyancing services provider The Partnership and industry expert Stephen Brown have launched a new initiative to increase understanding of the conveyancing process and support the Computers for Schools campaign.

New Insights Online sessions have been launched that are free to agents, in return for a small contribution to the initiative,  which purchases and donate tablets to children and families lacking access to IT devices.

The sessions aim to provide an insight into conveyancing to get a better understanding of the progression process.  

They are designed to be valuable for all agents irrespective of expertise, reflecting recent changes and trends, making them a uniquely enlightening experience.

Topics covered include why do lawyers actually do searches, what is involved in an exchange, what are included in contract packs, why building regulations cause such delays, issues with lenders and what problems that crop up during a transaction that can derail it.  

Agents are encouraged to submit any questions they have in advance, as well as having the opportunity to ask any questions during the discussion session.

Peter Ambrose, managing director of The Partnership, said: “We know agents are familiar with the basic concepts of conveyancing, but it’s a constantly changing environment and it does get tricky.

"We’ve been running these sessions face-to-face for years, and they’ve always been really positive.  When Stephen asked whether we could run these online, we jumped at the opportunity, especially as we saw it as a way to support his brilliant “Computers for Schools” campaign.  We're thrilled to be helping to improve the conveyancing experience for agents, but also give back to the community.”

Brown, founder of the Computers for Schools campaign, said: “I am very grateful that Peter and The Partnership have again kindly offered to support the campaign, which has so far raised over £125,500 and provided 1,234 laptops and tablets to schools throughout the UK. I know that the sessions will provide agents with additional resources to help improve relationships with conveyancers and with their customers.”

Find out more: http://thepartnershiplimited.com/conveyancing-training
 

The Hill Group: Housebuilder The Hill Group has donated six innovative modular homes to Emmaus Cambridge, a charity offering homes, employment and personal support to a community of formerly homeless people. 

The SoloHaus homes will provide safe, secure temporary accommodation for the area's most vulnerable people to assist the charity's work and were donated as a part of Hill's Foundation 200 initiative, a £15m pledge to design and donate 200 modular homes to charities working in homelessness by 2025.

The charity took ownership of the units at a hand-over ceremony at Emmaus in Landbeach, Cambridge on 23 January. 

Designed in collaboration with leading homelessness charities, the homes are purpose-built, fully furnished, and equipped for a single person to move into straight away. 
The homes, which are built to last for at least 60 years, are highly energy efficient keeping costs low and are designed to Future Homes Standards, exceeding building regulations for energy efficiency and sound insulation.

Terry Waite, president of Emmaus UK, said: “A safe, comfortable, independent space is vital to helping those who experience homelessness to rebuild their lives and make the transition into more permanent accommodation. 

“The homes will provide us with a great opportunity to support more people who find themselves in this position, and will make a real difference in our efforts to tackle homelessness in the Cambridge area.”

Tom Hill, managing director at The Hill Group, comments: "We are delighted to handover these SoloHaus homes to Emmaus and applaud the fantastic work they do supporting the local community here in Cambridge. As a major local housebuilder, central to our outlook is to apply our energy and expertise making a positive social impact in the areas in which we work. We are confident that these innovative new homes will continue to benefit the most vulnerable people in the area for many years to come.”