Agents Do Charity - making waves

Check out some of the latest charitable endeavours from agency and property brands this week.

If you have a charitable event or donations 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.

Agents Giving: Industry charity Agents Giving is bringing back its adrenaline pumping Dragon Boat Race on 7 May and there are only a few boats remaining.

If you are an estate agency, lettings agency or industry supplier you can enter your team.

Plus, you do not need to be super-fit because this is about having an enjoyable day of fundraising on the water for Agents Giving.

Teams signed up so far include, TDS, RAN, National Home Move, Acaboom and friends, Drivers & Norris, Street Group, Thomas Morris, J P Gardner & Associates, Dawsons, Simply Conveyancing, Kerfuffle, Propertymark, Genmar IT, Exp UK, LSL and last year’s winners - Caplen Estates battling to retain their winners’ title.

David Newnes chairman of Agents Giving, said: “We are excited to return to the water this year, this is such a fun and memorable charity event, one that you won’t want to miss”.
The event is being held on Sunday 7 May at Fairlop Waters in Ilford, Essex.

Each team can have up to 17 crew on the boat, including “a drummer”, no fitness capabilities required, you must be able to hold a paddle and sit upright in a boat.

You will race in three/four heats, each being around 250m, with the winners going through to the final race.

Boats must be pre booked, secure your boat space today before the boats sell out: https://agentsgiving.org/event/dragon-boat-race.

Barratt David Wilson: Housebuilder Barratt David Wilson North Thames is celebrating a year of fundraising success for its charity of the year, CHAT Children’s Respite. 
Staff raised £82,057.98 throughout 2022 following a range of fundraising events from a virtual racing night, golf day and a gala dinner, which will be used to provide much needed respite care for families with children with special needs.

The housebuilder kicked off fundraising with a donation of £10,000, with the final funds handed over to CHAT Children’s Respite on 27 February 2023. 

Located nearby to the housebuilder’s Kingsbrook development in Aylesbury, the charity helps families with children who have special needs, providing grants for those in need of a carer. The charity believes all families should be able to take a break from their caring role, with the comfort of knowing their child is being safely looked after.

Anthea Cass, charity fundraiser at CHAT Children’s Respite, said: “As a small charity, a donation of this scale will go a long way to support families across Buckinghamshire with children who have special needs. 

“This amazing funding will enable CHAT to explore different forms of respite care aside from funding a carer. As a result of the donation, we will now be able to pay for after school one to one activities these children wouldn’t usually have the chance to try, such as drumming lessons, fitness classes and clubs during the school holidays. 

“We are currently working with school nurses and other organisations to see what other respite services we can offer which will benefit both the families and their children, none of which would be possible without Barratt David Wilson Homes support.”

Marc Woolfe, head of sales for Barratt David Wilson North Thames, added: “The support CHAT Children’s Respite offers to the families of children who have special needs is second-to-none, and I’m so proud of the amount we’ve been able to raise this year for such a worthy cause. “We initially selected CHAT as our charity of the year for 2022, as they were a small, local charity with a fairly low annual income meaning our donation would make a real difference, but I never envisaged then that we would raise anywhere near this amount, so I’m very grateful to everyone who has contributed. I hope we can go on to raise the same amount, if not more, for our 2023 chosen charity.”
 

Bradley Hall: Full-service property specialist Bradley Hall has raised and donated £300,000 for local charities including Marie Curie Newcastle’s Hospice, Heel & Toe Children’s Charity and NE Youth.

The firm has also supported more than 30 different regional charities and sporting groups including Daft as a Brush, Bright Red, Morpeth Rugby Club, ABF The Soldier’s Charity, Glendale Agricultural Society, as well as local food and toy banks across the region.

Neil Hart, Bradley Hall’s group chief executive, said: “I would like to thank everyone that has attended and donated at each of our events to help us raise and donate £300,000 so far to local charities. 

“We’re looking forward to continuing our support of deserving local organisations, charities, and our communities across the North.  Our vision is to work together with key organisations and people to make the North a consistently better place to live, work, and socialise- which is at the heart of our community efforts.

“As a company that was founded in the North East, we are very proud to be able to support the charities and their service users who need it most. Most of the charities and community organisation which we work with aren’t supported by Government and rely solely on donations and fundraising activity, so it’s very important for us to do all we can to ensure their services continue.”

LandAid: Almost 1,300 property professional from across the UK have joined for industry charity LandAid’s biggest ever SleepOut.

The annual event raised more than £500,000 to support young people experiencing homelessness.

On Thursday 2 March hundreds braved the cold overnight across seven different city locations including Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Glasgow, Leeds, London, and Manchester.

Each region has been raising funds that will support a local project, having huge impact on its community. These include St Basils in Birmingham, 1625 Independent People in Bristol, YMCA Trinity in Cambridge, LATCH in Leeds and the Salford Foyer in Manchester. 

These projects will look to provide accommodation, employment opportunities and wider peer to peer support for young people who are currently homeless or at risk of homelessness in the future, who have nowhere else to turn.

The LandAid SleepOut has been supported by headline sponsor Knight Frank, alongside regional sponsors, Prologis in Birmingham, TFT in Bristol, Bidwells in Cambridge, Hollis in Glasgow, HBD in Leeds, and Addleshaw Goddard in Manchester.

Venues across the country were donated by venue sponsors, Birmingham City Council, La Salle Investment Management in Bristol, Cambridge University Rugby Football Club, Landsec in Glasgow and Leeds, British Land in London, and Sale Rugby Football Club in Salford.

The event also received cardboard boxes from Crown Workspace for everyone to sleep on, and Hunter Ops kindly provided the signage required for each venue.

Paul Morrish, chief executive of LandAid, said: “Thank you so much to everyone who braved the freezing cold and slept out during the biggest LandAid SleepOut ever. 

“It’s amazing to see the event grow year on year. The support we have received across the country has been incredible with seven locations, as well as those sleeping out at home, coming together for one very important cause.

“While the experience gives everyone a very good idea of how tough sleeping outside is, one night outside does not replicate the true reality of rough sleeping that faces thousands of young people all over the UK. Unfortunately, we know that this number is continuing to grow. 

“With the efforts of hundreds from the property industry, we have raised enough funds to make a real difference by providing safe and secure places for young people who can now focus on building a brighter future, rather than worrying about their night-to-night sleeping spot.”
 
 If you would like to support, donations are still being accepted for the 2023 SleepOut: https://join.landaid.org/event/sleepout-2023/donate 

Preston Baker: Five colleagues from Preston Baker Estate Agents and land promoter Richard Roberts are taking part in a charity skydive in May, raising money for the Mental Health Foundation.

The colleagues are Hannah, from York, Charlotte Nicholson, from Church Fenton, Megan Griffiths, from Leeds, Hugh Roberts, from Harewood, and Susan Preston, from Pool-in-Wharefedale.

Hannah said: “As the day of the skydive gets closer we are starting to feel a little nervous, but also excited,” said one of the group members.”
Susan added: “A skydive is something outside all our comfort zones but it will be a special experience and one that will hopefully raise a good amount for a charity that does such great work.”

Find out more and donate: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Preston-Baker