LandAid Ambassador and PwC employee Tosin Olorunfumi looks back on his first LandAid Day, and what the charity means to him, in this month’s guest blog post.
A week after the property industry’s biggest day of fundraising, we look back on what was a memorable day; filled with laughter, giving, healthy competition and a lot of cake eating!
LandAid works to break the cycle of disadvantage for vulnerable children and young people in the UK. It is a charity that prides itself in making a real and lasting impact. They make a real and lasting impact in the following ways:
-
- Providing grant funding to build, refurbish and maintain buildings and equipment, through the allocation of capital and revenue grants to charity partners.
-
- Providing charities with free professional advice on their premises and related property management issues. This pro bono work is provided by LandAid and its supporters from across the property industry. The free work ensures funds are used as effectively and efficiently as possible, and saves the charity money, enabling them to maximise their limited resources to directly help young people in need.
A year ago, I became a LandAid Ambassador and I have been inspired and encouraged by their projects which directly help young people. Being a young person myself, I jumped at the chance to help out and give back to a generation that I believe has so much to offer the world. As a member of this new generation, I have seen how easy it is to be boxed due to your race, religion and more so, your environment. Since I joined PwC, I have been given wonderful opportunities and been exposed me to different organisations such as LandAid. I thought there was no better way to show my passion for youth-focused initiatives than getting involved in LandAid Day.
I set out on a journey, attending various workshops, meeting the LandAid team and other ambassadors from the property industry. I was able to network, share ideas and embarrass myself in one of the group sessions, with a lip synced rendition of Usher – OMG!
Everything came together last week, when I put together what turned out to be a great football 5-a-side tournament. However I must say, I now know that fundraising isn’t as easy as it looks! Imagine knowing what someone was going to say before they spoke… This was pretty much me for the whole of last week – all I seemed to talk about was LandAid! “Are you playing?”, “Are you baking?”, “Have you donated?!”
And this is where having a great team makes life so much easier. Everyone got behind the fundraising, in their donations, in taking part and in wanting to know more about LandAid. Together, we raised an astounding £2,364.65 from our cake bake and football competition!
In the words of Mattie Stepanek “Unity is strength… when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved”.
The Associate team lined up against a strong Senior Manager/Manager team, only to oust them in a penalty shoot out! With the LandAid 2015 Champions Cup up for grabs, the Associate team went toe to toe with the Partner led team. Experience got the better of speed, as we lost and the Partner team raised the trophy in victory. Our UK Real Estate Tax Leader, John Hardwick bagged the golden boot for his man of the match performance in the finals.
Special thanks goes to Sally Robinson from LandAid for coming along and capturing all the pictures. Also to Elizabeth Pearson and colleagues for coming to watch and support our fundraising event for the day. Finally, special thanks goes to the Partners in the RE team for their generous donations and all those who donated and joined in with the fundraising events.
I’m looking forward to continuing this journey in a few weeks time, with a visit to one of the projects that LandAid supports in the UK.
Thanks for reading, and if you feel like this is a charity you would love to get involved in, then please contact Robyn Phillips to become an ambassador.