In the second of our philanthropy series, Noella Pio Kivlehan talks to Fawn James and two other young professionals about what drives them to work with charities
Right at the top of the steep stairs leading to the boardroom of Soho Estates’ W1 offices is a black and white portrait of Paul Raymond. The public may have been more familiar with the racier business interests of the publisher, club owner and real estate developer – especially following the release this year of the biopic The Look of Love, starring Steve Coogan as Raymond, but it was a keen eye for buying property in Soho from the 1970s until his death in 2008, which has provided his most lasting legacy.
The photo is the first thing on show, and sends a clear message that Raymond is not forgotten.
Now, granddaughters, Fawn and India-Rose James, along with their father John, run the estate, listed as being worth £374m in the 2013 Estates Gazette Rich List, published this week.
But, on meeting, Fawn gives no hint of the enormous wealth she helps control. She is down-to-earth and personable. And has inherited a passion for the area of London from which her company has grown. While Raymond bought up Soho’s buildings, James, 27, wants to put her own stamp on the area through charity work.
“When I started with the company (in 2009) I was learning how it all works, because I’d never trained and I had never done anything with the property industry. With Soho Estates being in the family I was here learning, seeing what it was all about. But I wanted to have my own thing to do within the company and I always wanted to be involved with charity,” says James.
Before she joined Soho Estates the company did not have a corporate social responsibility policy. “I wanted to implement one,” she says. “I thought, right, we are primarily based in Soho, so it seems like the ideal thing to support our area. That’s when I started narrowing down which charities to support.”
She began with the Soho Parish School on Archer Street, W1 – the only primary school in the area. “I went to talk to them and they really needed an extra maths tutor to improve numeracy standards, so we started supporting them through a scheme for a couple of years.”
James next turned her attention to the Terrence Higgins Trust – set up nearly 30 years ago at the start of the Aids crisis, and which now campaigns on a variety of sexual health-related issues.
“It seemed like such an important charity for the area, with the gay community and with sex workers obviously being a big part of Soho,” she says. As a result, James has thrown her weight behind THT’s Swish centre on Dean Street, specifically supporting workshops.
The centre offers testing for HIV and other STDs, as well as offering advice. And, says James, “They offer meetings with different people so that sex workers don’t feel they are alone out there, but that they have people to talk to with who they are comfortable.”
James is aware that people could be surprised by her decision to get involved. She explains: “A lot of people who don’t understand [Soho and the sex workers] have a stigmatised view towards it, – ‘Oh God, don’t go near that.’ But it was important to us. Being in Soho we have to look at the nitty gritty things.”
James adds that she doesn’t want to overlook a charity “just because it’s not as glamorous as supporting something else”. She says: “We have got a realistic view and approach to what Soho is and what happens here. People have leases so you can’t just turn around and say ‘get out’ just because we don’t like what you’re doing – it’s not about that. We want to look out for people because it’s what Soho really is. We want to make sure that if it is a part of Soho then it’s actually safe, and people are okay”
Sitting next to James is Del Campbell from THT, who explains about the work being done at Swish.
“We work with flat workers, street workers, porn stars, lap dancers, strippers and people who are sexually exploited. At the end of the day, we work with people. We see them as individuals and we get to know them as individuals.
“One of the things we are good at in Swish is reducing the stigma, and not being judgemental. Whatever people think about whether being a sex worker is a good thing or a bad thing, it is good for vulnerable people to talk about what they do without being judged.” Campbell says James’ funding for workshops on safety is crucial. “The work we’re doing, and Fawn’s support, is really important.”
James is also involved in Centrepoint, the homeless charity for young people, and next month will see the start of a collaboration with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, with Soho Estates funding Westminster council to recruit, train and support 12 young DofE leaders. They will then support 30 other young people doing their DofE Awards.
Just as supporting the THT raises eyebrows, so too does working with the DofE. “I think the DofE also has a kind of stigma about it, where everyone is like, ‘Oh no, that doesn’t need any money’. When they came to us, I thought no, they must have enough – but it’s almost the complete opposite.
“I wanted [the project] to be specific to Soho, specific to the Westminster area and to be helping people. The DofE is training people to go out to these young people to say ‘Right, let’s get you into doing this scheme and it will give you the confidence to give something back’.”
Throughout the conversation James makes it clear that supporting a charity is more than just about giving money; it’s about having a true relationship. “Support is to do with where you are and the area you are in. It is not to be afraid of what’s around you… just open your eyes and say, ‘Okay, what’s here, what needs help, this is where it is, so go for it’.”
James intends to continue her charity work in Soho for some time. “It’s a family business. It was started by my granddad and I feel like there is room to help for generations to come. We have to start somewhere as we are responsible for now, for the future and we want to keep it going that way.”
We know how important education is
Kirill Ozerov, 29, TIKO Construction We set up TIKO Foundation, which is an educational charity, in 2011. Our primary objective is to provide financial support for young people in the UK who are from less privileged backgrounds. Our grants cover tuition fees and accommodation.
We started with one person, but are now fully supporting three. We have four main partners in the business and over the years we have come to realise how important education is to our success. We also realise that others in the UK don’t get half the chance that we did to fulfil their potential, just because they don’t have access to the right education.
So we set up our charity. Our ambition is for it to grow with our business. We want to highlight the benefits of higher education for people from less privileged backgrounds.
We work with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s department for education which refers people to us, and we hope to get up to 10 students in the first five years.
At present we are explicitly an education charity, so we don’t provide internships. We don’t want anything in return.
You have a responsibility to give back
Yonni Abramson, 29, Third Sector Property I was educated in always giving. Being Jewish it is law that you give 10% of your earnings away to charity each year – that was something that my family followed.
If you’re fortunate to be able to make money, you have a responsibility to give back as well.
When myself and my partner, Zac Goodman started TSP five years ago we were very conscious of our corporate social responsibility. So, for every invoice we charged to the client we sent a donation for 10% of the invoice. It was a bit of an icing on the cake.
But we stopped doing that after 18 months because we felt it was making too little impact. We thought we were better to collect our profits and then allocate them out. Now we give away around 10% of our profit to charity.
I do a lot of work with Norwood, which helps vulnerable children and families. Within that I’m involved in Young Norwood, where we try to raise £500,000 a year.
I believe that with philanthropy, you have a responsibility to give back, give your time and get other people to give.
noella.pio.kivlehan@estatesgazette.com
