LANDAID APPEAL-

You all know LandAid: you're half-cut atsome industry do, the bidding starts on thejock strap worn by Martin Johnson at a 2003World Cup training session and before youknow it, you've bid £1,500 and clients areclapping you on the back. LandAid gets themoney and your boss gets the hump but atleast you've done your good deed for the year.

Well, it's time to think again. Helical Barchief executive Mike Slade and Robin Broad­hurst, the former European chairman ofJones Lang LaSalle, have come up with bold

WHAT LANDAIDWANTS FROM YOU• Pledge some of your annual charitabledonations to LandAid - the target is£10,000 pa from every property companyfor the next three years• Help LandAid to raise a total of £lm pathrough these corporate pledges (up fromthe current £150,00 pa)• Your shareholders and partners tounderwrite these pledges ...• ...but delegate responsibility for raisingcash to younger staff ...• ...who run marathons and swim channels

but carefully laid plans to expand the charityand get you and your company much moreinvolved than just signing cheques. And if

. being photographed wrapped in fairy lightsis what it takes to get the industry to takenote, then Slade and the normally morereserved Broadhurst are happy to oblige.

Last month, Broadhurst, who took over asLandAid chairman this May, and the other10 trustees (including LandAid presidentSlade, GVAGrimley's Rob Bould, the BPF'sLiz Peace, LandSec's Mike Hussey and Gros­venor's Jeremy Newsum) started a series offundraising meetings aimed at boostingcorporate pledges from their current annualtotal of around £150,000 into an ambitious£lm pa within 12months.

It is part of a long-term plan to transformthe charity from a well-intentioned support­er of ad hoc projects into a major force forgood in the support of the disadvantaged ­chieflyhomeless and vulnerable youngsters.

Quite simply, they-want LandAid to be thecharity of choice for everyone in property.Their ultimate aim is to have a series ofLandAid hostels, funded and owned by thecharity, providing shelter, education, train­ing and support up and down the country.

"I've worked in the industry for 40 years;'says the impeccably well-connected Broad-

Slade and Broadhurst:"The industry has areputation forgenerosity. We'restarting with thecorporates but wewant to eventually getall 100,000 people inthe industry involved"

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LANDAID APPEAL

FOUNDATIONS FOR LIFE STARTS THE SPADEWORKhurst, whose many jobs these days includebeing chairman of Grainger, a trustee of theGrosvenor Trusts, a non-executive directorof Chelsfield Partners and a member of thePrince's Council of the Duchy of Cornwall."and it has a reputation for generosity.

"We're starting with the corporates but wewant to eventually get all 100,000 people inthe industry involved. I believe there is acollective willingness for everyone in realestate to be able to put their hands up andsay: 'I've been involved in that';'

At the moment, the majority of LandAid'sincome comes from fundraising events, suchas the Party Near the Park, which raisedmore than £100,000 this year, and the FunRun, which gathered £35,000. LandAid alsotypically raises £100,000 a year from eventswhere it is the major beneficiary, such as the£50,000 it derives from the Property Race Dayand £25,000 from the Anglo Irish Regatta.But now the charity's trustees want to moveit on a stage and they need to augment one­off amounts with sustainable funding.

"We all get to an age - though Robinclearly got there before me;' wisecracksSlade, "when you have to put somethingback. I think LandAid has a great opp0rtll­nity to do something significant. We want tobe seen to be doing, not just facilitating.

Eventually, a LandAid estate"We don't want to run the hostels but even­tually we could have a LandAid estate [ofspecially built hostels]. When I retire I'dhappily do pro bono work and oversee thecreation of something in Bristol or Notting­ham, and there are plenty of people whowould do that and give their time;'

As events manager and chief salesman forthe charity, Slade is devoting "too much time(don't tell the shareholders)" to this nextphase of the charity's fundraising plans,where each of the trustees is first tasked withgetting six corporates - from property com­panies to firms of agents - to pledge £10,000pa for three years.

"The beauty is we're not asking share­holders or partners to pay,we're asking themto underwrite it. To take responsibility to un­load it down to the clever 30-year-olds who

Homelessness charity Centrepoint has astrong track record in turning round thelives of youngsters. Since 1969 it hasprovided 72,000 young people with homes.Most of them just want to get a job and adecent place to live, but few are in a positionto do so: lack of qualifications and low basiclife skills hinder their entry to the workplace.

LandAid linked up with the charity in2007 to fund training programmes andhelp disadvantaged young people to findwork. Chief executive John Siddall says itsaim is to encourage them to develop skillsthat they can draw upon as adults, long

work for you, to run marathons, swim chan­nels and so on, and to get them involved.

"It's a recession, so we've gone for a rela­tively modest amount. We're not asking foreverything firms raise, but to pledge some ofit each year to us and we can demonstratewhat good we're doing with it:'

Once six corporates have been signed up,the trustees move on to the next six and soon. They are trusting that peer pressure willspread the scheme throughout the industry.

But while many industry professionalswill have sung at Party Near the Park orpuffed round the Fun Run, few know exactlyhow much the fledging national organisa­tion has already achieved.

Since its launch on a more businesslikebasis in 2005, LandAid now has its own full­time chief executive,Jon Siddall, who has abackground in setting up not-for-profit or­ganisations; officesat the BPF; a staffof three;and a new committee structure, where eachmember has distinct responsibilities.

"A colleague told me he was interested inthis because the last time the industry gottogether and created something worthwhileit was when the IPF was formed;' saysBroadhurst. "It's time we did something else.I believe you'll see the drive and initiative ofthe industry making something happen;'

More important, LandAid has alreadycommitted £1.5m over a three-year period to

after they have left the hostels, achievedindependence and found a job and homeof their own.

LandAid's joint venture with Centrepoint- called Foundations for Life - has seenthe refurbishment of four London centres:two in Soho, one in Camberwell and one inLewisham. A fifth, at Bruce House in Soho,is set to be completed by Christmas.

LandAid money will also fund staff poststo deliver learning support.For further information: tel: 02078020777or e-mail: enquiries@landaid.orgwebsite: www.landaid.org

a trial joint venture project with Centrepointcalled Foundations for Life (see above).Under this programme, LandAid will fundat least 15 projects over a three-year periodto upgrade and provide spaces in hostelbuildings for the training and developmentof young people. Ultimately, around 1,500youngsters stand to benefit each year.

"Foundations for Life is a springboard forus to do other things;' says Broadhurst. "Wedon't want to run before we can walk and wewant to achieve something and prove thatwe are effective when we use people'smoney. The FFL project is a good way ofdoing that. There are plenty of other chari­ties we can work with for whom we couldbuild and create the assets.

"It's crucial that we get statistical feed­back on success rates;' says Broadhurst."For every 100 people who walk throughCentrepoint's door, a third have long-termproblems to do with drink, drugs or mentalillness. Of the other two-thirds, 70% areturned around within 12months. It's incred­ible - there are a lot of 'good news' storiesand people can see the successes achievedby the money they've given.

"If you ask why should you give yourmoney to LandAid and not directly, the an­swer is because we can be more efficient. I'mcertain that, if LandAid is set up well, it canrun for 50 years;'

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