Property and construction companies have come together to back a campaign by London City Voices choir to raise funds to support Women’s Aid.
The 276 members of the London-based non-audition community choir released a video of them singing Carole King’s song You’ve Got A Friend to launch the fundraising appeal under the banner #homeshouldbeahaven.
The campaign has raised £73,000 so far, including donations from Savills, Rightmove, Barratt Developments and Multiplex.
The choir hopes to continue to attract more corporate donations to the #homeshouldbeahaven campaign to help secure the future of services such as Women’s Aid Live Chat – a service that has seen a 41% rise in demand since lockdown was imposed.
To support the campaign, e-mail homeshouldbeahaven@gmail.com
Make a donation via https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/home-should-be-a-haven
Anyone for tennis – behind closed doors?
Grand Slam doubles tennis champion Jamie Murray has teamed up with Schroders to host the UK’s first “behind-closed-doors” indoor tennis tournament.
The Schroders Battle of the Brits intends to bring some much-missed live sport to fans, while raising a minimum of £100,000 for NHS Charities Together.
The six-day tournament will take place from 23 to 28 June at the Lawn Tennis Association club in Roehampton, where players including Andy and Jamie Murray, Dan Evans and Kyle Edmund will compete to be crowned singles and doubles champions.
Sports fans in the UK and Ireland will be able to watch the live action on Amazon Prime Video.
Propcos step up to support hospital staff
Four thousand staff at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, W2, will receive Marks & Spencer food cards through a new fundraising initiative started by businesses and property owners in response to the Covid-19 crisis.
The 1928 Project – named after the year in which Sir Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin while working at St Mary’s – aims to raise £1.5m to help support the wellbeing of all staff, including cleaners and porters as well as doctors, nurses and pharmacists.
The project is a partnership with Imperial Health Charity and M&S and is the brainchild of the team at Brockton Everlast.
It has already raised £650,000 from major property firms, charitable foundations and individuals. Those already lining up with Brockton include Derwent London, British Land, Almacantar, Rayne Foundation, Reuben Foundation, Wolfson Charities, CBRE, Rothschild Foundation and Rothschild & Co.
They now hope to attract further support to reach the £1.5m target and even exceed this to continue the project long-term.
If the programme is well-funded and well-received by NHS staff, it will be rolled out to the other four hospitals in the NHS trust. Donations will be received and administered by Imperial Health Charity.
More information: https://1928project.org.uk
Individual donations can be made at www.justgiving.com/1928project
Shaftesbury sacrifice starts to fuel community projects
The Shaftesbury Community Fund has made its first donation of more than £53,000 to local charities and community groups in the West End. The fund was generated by Shaftesbury board members reducing their salaries and pension contributions by 20% for three months from 1 April. Projects supported so far include the North Paddington Food Bank, Camden Council’s Learning Tool Fund, Samaritans, and Soho Parish School.
NHS benefits from Hatfield hotel bookings
Focus Hotels Management has reopened the Mercure Hatfield Oak in Hertfordshire and is pledging a £5 donation for every booking made. The initiative has so far generated £1,600 for NHS Charities Together.
Kirkby Diamond expertise secures homeless centre
Kirkby Diamond stepped in to help charity Signposts secure a new centre to accommodate homeless people in Luton during the pandemic. The agent liaised with the landlord to agree a lease and refurbishment works on a building, which it had previously sold, to accommodate 45 homeless people.
Kensington Covid appeal raises £700,000
The Kensington and Chelsea Foundation’s Covid-19 Appeal has raised £700,000 for local projects providing support and care packages to vulnerable residents. The foundation is supported by local companies including Cadogan and LMAX Group. To donate, visit: https://tinyurl.com/sk24v63
M7 staff help 87 charities
M7 Real Estate has raised more than €7,000 for 87 charities in 20 days. Staff were challenged to walk 7,000 steps in 24 hours and make a donation to charity before nominating a further two colleagues to take part. More than 160 employees across 14 countries participated and beneficiaries included LandAid, NHS Charities, Street Child United, Save the Children, Red Cross and Unicef.
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