On Friday I attended the grand opening of Eikon’s beautiful new offices at Fulbrook School in Surrey.
After several years of planning and six months of construction, supported by a £20,000 refurbishment grant from LandAid, the new centre will enable Eikon to double their services and reach out to more young people across the county.
I had the great honor of participating in the official ribbon cutting, along with John Goodrum of The Chertsey Combined Charity, Paul Taylor of Wooden Spoon, Julian Smith of Maris Interiors and Charlotte Grobien of Give it Away – all of whom had provided financial or pro bono support to get the project up and running.
Speeches on the night were given by broadcaster and TV personality John Inverdale (Honorary President of the Surrey Region of Wooden Spoon), Chris Hickford (CEO, The Eikon Charity), Charlotte Grobien (Managing Director, Give it Away), and Jenny Griffiths OBE (Chairman of the Board of Trustees, the Eikon Charity).
Accompanied by Colin Wilson of DTZ, we were given a guided tour of the new facilities, and also treated to a very accomplished performance by Fullbrook School Jazz Band.
None of this would have been possible without the generosity of Foundation Partners like DTZ, and the commitment of thousands of individual supporters across the property industry. It was particularly edifying to see how the old spaces we visited back in the summer had been transformed into bright, professional and welcoming offices and social spaces for the young people.
Eikon’s new HQ is already making a significant difference to the young people Eikon work with – proof positive of the meaningful impact LandAid funding is having across the country.