For seven years now, PropSki has been bringing property industry professionals together for a week of networking, fundraising and, of course, skiing down the slopes of wintry French mountains. And thanks to their stellar fundraising efforts, PropSki are one of LandAid’s newest foundation partners.
PropSki 2019, which moved to Chamonix this year, raised over £15,000 for LandAid this year – counting – already enough to provide a bed space for a vulnerable young person.
We spoke to three members of the PropSki committee – William Chambers from Barwood Capital (one of PropSki’s co-founders), Paul Arthur from Paragon BC and Rebecca Harper from Rapleys – to find out more about their involvement in PropSki and how they managed to hit their target.
Why did you choose to fundraise for LandAid?
Will: Everything LandAid does is always really positive, and we’ve been engaged with the charity right from the outset.
To be able to meet some of the people LandAid’s work helps, and to see the impact our fundraising can have, it really touches people.
Our philosophy for donating to LandAid and helping to end youth homelessness was ‘if you can, why don’t you? If we can make this situation better, why don’t we?’
What was your favourite moment of PropSki 2019?
Paul: The Paragon Mountain Meal took it to a whole new level this year. We hosted 288 delegates in one of the most historic and beautiful venues of Chamonix, Le Majestic.
The feedback I’ve had is that everybody loved the evening – our previous Mountain Meals have been really nice but being in Le Majestic this year was fantastic. The food and wine was fantastic, we had some great auction lot donations and were able to raise a record amount of fundraising for LandAid.
Becks: I loved the Aston Rose Ski Tour and the Macdonald & Co Race Night was amazing too – this was the first year we held the event in the evening and the slalom course looked epic under the flood lights.
We had a great turnout and a lot of fun taking over a little corner of Chamonix with a mulled wine station, a huge tartiflette, DJ on the balcony and the AIA luge. It is a great event to participate or spectate but we are always looking for more racers – any girls out there who want to show the boys how it’s done?
Will: I really enjoyed the Mountain Meal, too!
The whole room had a big buzz about it. It was a beautiful venue and an incredible event, especially with the question time hosted by EG beforehand.
Who came to PropSki this year?
Becks: The mix of professions and levels of people was amazing – interestingly, the average age was over 35. The age range is important, because as the committee has grown and become more senior, so have the delegates but it hasn’t lost its open to everyone charm. It’s an event companies see a lot of value in and as a result, support sending their staff to.
Paul: We had a fantastic mix of delegates this year. Lots of new faces to connect with alongside existing business contacts and friends from the industry. This is really important as it helps to form strong bonds amongst those at PropSki that has led to significant business wins and partnerships as a result. PropSki is a lot of fun but it has definitely been judged more on its merit as a genuine property networking opportunity over the last few years.
Will: We want to focus on the professional content. PropSki is fun, but it is for networking.
Over 150 people attended the PropSki reunion at Sway Bar last week. The 2019 Propski highlights video was screened and delegates got a chance to re-connect with their contacts made in January in Chamonix.
You can follow updates about the 2020 iteration of one of the property calendar’s biggest networking dates here.