Spotlight on winter fundraising
As a wholly independent charity, LionHeart doesn't get any grant funding and therefore is reliant on donations and fundraising from our brilliant supporters.
This winter has been no exception, with a whole range of different ways people, firms and organisations have raised funds to help us to help their fellow surveyors.
Firms like Litton Properties in Bakewell who made a generous donation to LionHeart in lieu of sending Christmas cards - ticking their green credentials box and supporting their profession at the same time!
Members of the West Wales Land, Property and Construction Club also held a celebratory Christmas lunch, where the chains of office were passed from outgoing chair Carwyn Rees MRICS to Iestyn Leyshon FRICS. The lunch raised money for LionHeart and Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity, a fitting end to a three-year term for Carwyn, who had managed to successfully steer the club from 2019 and maintain its impressive charity fundraising activity despite all the restrictions Covid brought along.
We were also hugely grateful to members of Glasgow Matrics, who waved goodbye to 2022 in style with a glittering Winter Ball, raising almost £2,000 for us in the process via cash donations and a JustGiving page.
We just *love* to talk about LionHeart and one of the things we like to do is to get out and about to meet surveyors and corporate partners, so we were delighted to attend the annual conference of SDL Surveying in Nottingham in December. Many attendees made contactless donations to LionHeart on the day, and we also benefited from the proceeds of a charity raffle along with another wonderful charity called Ella's.
Of course, we couldn't finish a winter fundraising round-up without making special mention to all the fabulous firms and individuals that donated to our annual Christmas Hamper Appeal... Each year we ask for donations to help us send hampers of festive treats to some of the people and families we've been supporting - people who, for all sorts of reasons, might be dreading the Christmas period after facing some of life's toughest times, like bereavement, serious health problems or financial crisis.
We knew it might be a big ask this Christmas with lots of people worried about the cost of living and economic uncertainty. So we were absolutely blown away when we had the best response we've ever had to the appeal.
Among the individuals who donated was Sarah, who saw our appeal on social media and donated because she knew first-hand what the gesture meant. We'd supported Sarah back in 2016 after a tragic double family bereavement and she said when she received her own hamper from LionHeart that Christmas it had made her feel comforted and less alone at such a hard time.
A number of our corporate partners also generously backed the Christmas appeal - shout out to TFT, Gerald Eve, Agoge, Esurv, Alinea, Lambert Smith Hampton, Faithorn Farrell Timms, Allsop and Savills!
As we begin 2023, we look forward to working with our loyal supporters and fundraisers again. Everything we do to support the RICS membership is made possible by you - the membership! There are so many ways you can support us - from the usual fundraisers to the wild and wacky!
So please don't hesitate to get in touch with the LionHeart team if we can help you with your fundraising in any way. We are very happy to chat with you about your ideas, provide guidance and answer questions!
Faye Smith is LionHeart's Individual Giving Fundraiser, joining in March 2020 after a number of years in the charity sector. Her experience includes legacy giving, stewardship and all areas of individual giving.
