Estate Agency Foundation - General - UK, London
Date: 12 Dec 2007
When Professor Alec Reed stepped up to the microphone to launch the new Estate Agency Foundation at the recent Estate Agency of the Year Awards in London, the 600-strong audience did not know quite what was in store. Originally the distinguished founder of HR giant Reed Consulting had simply agreed to launch the new foundation. However, once on the podium, he went on to accept the role as its new chairman, and made the first ever contribution to its coffers.
Professor Reed, who is a well-known champion of corporate social responsibility, donated £10,000 of his own money to get the fund off to a healthy start. Just a week later, nearly £200,000 has already been pledged by estate agents across the nation to help tackle the causes of homelessness.
Set up by Estate Agency Events and with huge support from Michael Robson and his team at Andrews who have a record second to none for CSR, The Estate Agency Foundation (EAF) acts as an umbrella organisation donating money to existing organisations which already work towards eradicating the reasons behind homelessness and provide support for those at risk.
Estate agencies of all sizes - from one office to 51-plus - are now being invited to become Founding Members of the EAF. This involves making a signed pledge to raise at least £10,000 within a year in aid of the foundation. The money can be gathered through any type of fundraising activity involving staff or clients. The number of Founder Members is limited to 100 and 14 places have already been taken up.
Other bands of membership are available without limit. These are dependent on the size of the agency, ranging from a pledge of at least £500 within a year for firms with from one to five offices up to a requirement of £10,000-plus for those with 51 or more offices.
Peter Knight, chairman of Estate Agency Events comments, "We'd really like to see every agency in the country get involved, which is why we've structured the membership bands to include the smallest to the largest. I'm aware that many agencies already do invaluable fundraising work for charity. Knowing what impact they already make individually, I believe passionately that if we all pull together, we can make a huge contribution towards stamping out homelessness in the UK."
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