A group of North East property professionals are taking part in the gruelling 140-mile Coast-to-Coast cycle challenge from Workington to North Tyneside to raise funds for an initiative that aims to deliver more homes for young homeless people in the North East.
The group of 10 property professionals – from a range of sectors and disciplines – includes the Chair of the RICS North East Regional Board, Chris Pearson of Gavin Black & Partners in Newcastle along with Chris Donabie, Dean Clark and Martin Watson of Naylors in Newcastle, as well as members from HTA Real Estate, Sanderson Weatherall, Faithful & Gould and Connect Property North East.
Together they are aiming to complete the two-day challenge on 21 and 22 June and raise money for an RICS initiative known as Pledge150. Launched by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) – in partnership with property industry charity, LandAid – Pledge150 aims to encourage the wider property industry to unite in ending youth homelessness and raising funds to deliver at least 150 bed spaces in 2018 for young people at risk of homelessness.
To-date, professionals in the region’s land, property and construction sectors have taken part in a wide variety of fundraising events for Pledge150 including the Sunderland Siglion 10K, the CEO Sleepout in St James Park, a Golf Day at Slaley Hall in Hexham as well as corporate dinners and networking events.
Chris Pearson, Partner at Gavin Black & Partners commented: “It’s been fantastic to see so many property firms – of all sizes – get on board with the Pledge150 campaign and really help make a positive difference.
“The Coast-to-Coast challenge is going to be tough, especially for me as I’m not an experienced cyclist by any stretch. But I’m delighted to be taking part for such a worthy cause, with fellow professionals who share the same goal of uniting the wider property industry in leading the way to end homelessness.”
He adds: “There’s often even more homeless people in a city or town than official figures reveal as ‘homelessness’ doesn’t just mean sleeping on the streets, it can include those ‘sofa surfing’ or living in overcrowded and unsafe accommodation that aren’t accounted for. Therefore, we hope more property professionals will get involved and support the Pledge150 campaign, as we have further fundraising events planned across the rest of the year.”
If you would like to sponsor the RICS team for the Coast-to-Coast cycle challenge from Workington to North Tyneside visit their fundraising page at: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/ricscoast2coast
For more information on the RICS Pledge150 campaign including details of upcoming fundraisers in your area visitwww.rics.org/pledge150