Charity begins with homes

What has been your proudest achievement in 2016? To coincide with our 30th anniversary, we launched our new focus for the next 10 years: to work with the property industry to help end youth homelessness. That news was met by an overwhelmingly positive reaction from the sector, and 76 businesses leaders signed a call to action pledging their support to LandAid’s new mission. But by far our proudest achievement has been the £1m of grants that we awarded to transform empty houses into safe, affordable homes for young people who are homeless. And what has been the biggest challenge? That 125,000 children are expected to be homeless and in temporary accommodation this winter, and that hundreds will sleep rough in cities and towns across the UK, is a major challenge for LandAid and its supporters. Rising rents and reductions in benefit payments have had a devastating effect on the country’s most vulnerable young people, and organisations delivering critical services are struggling with a massive increase in demand. Has the uncertainty affecting the property industry affected your fundraising? Despite the unexpected twists and turns of 2016, LandAid has had a very successful year. We are on track to raise more than £2m in this financial year (April 2016 to March 2017), up from £1.8m in our last financial year. This year our supporters have climbed mountains, trekked across deserts, ran marathons and abseiled skyscrapers to raise vital funds, proving their commitment to charity even in such tumultuous times. However, nervousness in the commercial world affects businesses’ charitable work – we’ve noticed it is harder to get sponsorship, and some donations are down. [gallery type="slideshow" link="none" ids="869314,869312,869313"] How do you expect it to affect fundraising next year? As a charity, we must focus on our beneficiaries. Homelessness in the UK is soaring and the numbers of families waiting for council housing are higher than ever. Despite uncertain times, we are unwavering in our commitment to make life better for vulnerable young people.    We are fortunate that we can continue to rely on more than 110 UK property companies and organisations for support. In 2017, their donations, skills and time will be needed more than ever. We expect some new companies to join our network, and other long-term supporters to expand their fundraising in a much more strategic way. Through this generosity, we hope to give out at least another £1m in grants to life-changing projects.  What is LandAid’s most important aspiration for 2017? Following the launch of our Sponsor a Home campaign earlier this year, we want to see as many companies as possible pledging to raise £30,000 in 2017 to turn an empty home into a safe place to live for young people. We’ve given ourselves a deadline of autumn 2018 by which to get 30 homes sponsored. And thanks to the likes of Palmer Capital, SEGRO and Shaftesbury we’re already a quarter of the way there. We’ll also be launching a couple of major fundraising initiatives through the year, as well as hosting our 30th Anniversary Gala Dinner on 1 March. Which charity you have encountered in 2016  has impressed you the most? We’re privileged to work with inspiring and hard-working charities every day of the week. Earlier this year we began funding two charities, Canopy Housing in Leeds and Giroscope in Hull, that are transforming the landscape of affordable housing in the North of England. Together they won the World Habitat Awards for their pioneering Self Help Housing. This movement empowers and trains homeless people to convert abandoned properties into low-cost homes, which they then live in. Where these two charities have blazed a trail, over 100 more organisations in the UK have followed.