Agents Do Charity - good sports

Welcome to this week’s Agents Do Charity, our chance to salute those who do so much to help others.

If your agency is doing something charitable that we should bring to the attention of the industry, please email press@estateagenttoday.co.uk - and we’ll do the rest!

Hunters: The Hunters Nikki Waterhouse Trust team raised more than £7,000 as part of the Dragonboat Challenge on the River Ouse in York, raising important funds for the charity set up in honour of former Hunters estate agent Nikki Waterhouse.

A whopping £7,000 was raised from the rowers and additional sponsors, with the team also achieving the highest fundraise on the day of all teams which means that they will be awarded an additional £100.

Rob Smith, managing director of Hunters, said: “We are very proud of the charity at Hunters, as are the founders John Waterhouse, who is still with Hunters, and Kevin Hollinrake. We look forward to our next fundraising event which is the Hunters Nikki Waterhouse Trust Golf Day on 30 August.”

The Nikki Waterhouse Trust welcomes applications for funds from all over the United Kingdom. Nikki loved children and so the Trust in her name aims to support children and their families in times of need. The Trust has donated to children and organizations across the country.

Nicol & Co: Worcestershire estate agency Nicol & Co is helping keep up the energy levels of hundreds of children at school sports days across the county.

The residential sales and letting agency, which has offices in Droitwich, Worcester and Malvern, has been sponsoring seven school sports days with branded bottles of filtered water and a range of fresh fruit from the Three Counties Produce store in Worcester.

Matt Nicol, managing director of Nicol & Co, said: “Times are tight for school budgets, and we felt this would be a great way to give back to the community and show our appreciation for the excellent primary schools we have across Worcestershire.

“The feedback has been great so far, with some really lovely comments from children, parents and teachers.

“So far, we have provided fruit and 440 bottles of filtered water to St Peter’s Primary in Droitwich and 71 bottles and fruit to Tibberton CE First School.

“We have also supplied water and fruit for 210 children at St Georges RC Primary School in Worcester, for 390 children at Tudor Grange Primary in Worcester, 201 children at St Joseph’s in Malvern, 334 children at Chawson First School in Droitwich and 310 children at Malvern Parish CofE Primary.

“We are delighted that we’ve been able to add to the fun for a lot of youngsters with some refreshment on their sports days.”

The sports day sponsorship programme is part of a wider campaign that has seen Nicol & Co establish a Community Fund that has donated more than £60,000 to good causes across the area over the last four years.

Nicol & Co began the scheme in 2021 where for every property it sells, it donates £100 to the seller’s choice of school, charity or local community organisation.

As well as sellers’ nominations, some vendors leave the choice to Nicol & Co and it welcomes applications for support from less well-known local organisations.

Propertymark Trust: The Propertymark Trust has launched an initiative that allows estate agents to donate orphaned funds to support charitable causes. 

This initiative is made possible through the support and technical integration provided by CRM suppliers across the UK including Street and Houseful.

Orphaned funds can happen for many reasons, and after six years, rather than allowing these funds to sit dormant, estate agents can now donate them to the Propertymark Trust, thanks to new features implemented by CRM suppliers.

Heather Staff from Street.co.uk, said: “At Street.co.uk, we’re committed to leveraging technology and automation to drive meaningful change within our industry. 

“That’s why we’ve recently introduced a new feature that empowers our agents to effortlessly identify orphaned dormant funds and donate unallocated money to The Propertymark Trust’s incredible efforts - so everyone can easily make a tangible impact, without impacting their bottom line.”

Andrew Marshall of Houseful added: “The team at Houseful are delighted to be able to support the Propertymark Trust with the orphaned funds programme. Making a minor change to our CRM products in order to help unlock such a large opportunity for estate agents across the UK to make a difference was an absolute no brainer for us, and we are really just delighted to play our small part in such a great initiative.”

Nathan Emerson, chief executive of Propertymark, added: "We are incredibly proud of the positive impact made by the newly invigorated Propertymark Trust team of trustees and ambassadors. 

“Their efforts in promoting innovative fundraising methods really do provide vital support for those in need and their families. This initiative to allow orphaned funds to contribute to the fantastic work of the Propertymark Trust is the ultimate combination of initiative and tech integration, and we are delighted to see some of the industry's biggest CRM providers getting behind it."

Michael Day: Industry figure and Integra Property Services boss Michael Day is now four weeks into his Diabetes UK One Million Step Challenge.

His latest update said: “I currently remain nicely ahead of target having completed 355,859 steps and a distance of 277.61 km. This has involved more than 60 hours of walking so far and is the equivalent of walking from London to Manchester!
 “I have raised £1,075 in donations from supporters but I am still hoping to do even better and try to match or better last year’s total of £3,465. To those of you that have already donated, I have already personally directly thanked you but do so collectively again here.
 
For those of you who haven’t yet donated, I fully appreciate that are lots of demands and requests from all over for lots of good causes but if you could find a way of having a rummage down the back of the sofa or raiding the company accounts – as our friends at Tesco say – every little helps.”

You can keep track of Michael and donate at: https://step.diabetes.org.uk/fundraising/michael1249