THE CONVEYANCING F has reached a charity fundraising milestone of over £900,000 just over a decade after it was launched as a not for profit organisation dedicated to charity fundraising and representing the best interests of the conveyancing sector.

Through the mechanism of its innovative Charity Lotto, which has attracted industry-wide backing from the legal, property and conveyancing sectors, the Foundation, which was launched in 2010, has helped its affiliate, leading online conveyancing practice Convey Law, and others (Wilson Nesbitt, BTMK Solicitors, Direction Law, JP Goldman and Sam Hawking Property Lawyers) raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for deserving causes.

For a simple donation of just £10 at the end of their transaction, the Charity Lotto gives clients the chance to win £500 to help pay for their conveyancing costs. The legal practice running the Lotto chooses where charity funds are directed.

At Convey Law, which has used the Charity Lotto since its inception, the hard work of conveyancers and the generosity of their clients, has meant a huge difference for charities in Wales, where the Convey Group is based, and around the UK and even internationally.

Convey Law staff have also been totally invested in the fundraising by having the chance to nominate deserving charities and organisations they care about who are in need of financial support.

Charities chosen range from many medical and cancer charities to animal rescue charities to groups, small and large, helping with the homeless and those in need as well as those looking after elderly people and children. Funds have also been boosted by company and individual charity fundraising and challenge events over the years.

One of the key charities helped by Convey Law through the Charity Lotto has been the Ty Hafan Children’s Hospice in Penarth, which provides palliative care to children and vital support for their families.

Over £375,000 has been donated to Ty Hafan alone through the Charity Lotto and through fundraising events spearheaded by Convey Law Managing Director Lloyd Davies, who became Ty Hafan’s first Corporate Ambassador in recognition of his charity work for the hospice.

The Conveyancing Foundation has also led the way in protecting the interests of those working in the conveyancing, legal and property industries with its trailblazing ‘Be Kind We Care’ campaign, which has won plaudits for its groundbreaking work and has been backed by a plethora of key conveyancing stakeholders.

Initially aimed at appealing to those working in the industries to have more thought for each other in their everyday business dealings after reports of hostile and unkind behaviour triggered by the stresses of the property boom during the Pandemic, it has since developed into a campaigning force to promote better mental health and wellbeing and provide practical resources and help to those who want to avert mental health issues and to those already suffering from stress.

‘Be Kind We Care’ is also supported by LawCare, Agents Together and the Mindstep Foundation and has run a series of powerful webinars with industry and mental health experts looking at how to spot the signs of stress and mental overload as well as looking holistically at the industries and how they can work better together to avert traditional tensions. ‘Be Kind We Care’ was also the official charity partner of the first ever British Conveyancing Awards this year.

Industry sponsors including digital platform Thirdfort, industry leading training provider the Conveyancing Academy, conveyancing case management systems expert Redbrick Solutions, PEXA and Groundsure Location Intelligence as well as the Society of Licensed Conveyancers and the Conveyancing Association have also come onboard to sponsor and support the Conveyancing Foundation and ‘Be Kind We Care’ initiatives.

Lloyd Davies, also Conveyancing Foundation chairman, said he firmly believed ‘Be Kind We Care’ has encouraged many people to stop and think in their everyday dealings with people and consider how they would like to be spoken to but stressed it was vital to keep the Foundation’s work in the public eye.

At the latest ‘Be Kind We Care’ webinar, experts from across the property, legal and conveyancing worlds recently confirmed that they believed the campaign had had a positive effect on relationships between professionals during property transactions.

Lloyd Davies commented: “’Be Kind We Care’ was a simple idea but I think its simplicity helped that core message of kindness to hit home with many of those in conveyancing and affiliated industries who were affected by huge levels of stress triggered by the challenges of the pandemic such as remote working combined with the surge in transactions because of shifting demographic patterns and the Stamp Duty holiday.

“We wanted to draw attention to what was happening and provide practical resources to help. Every penny we receive in sponsorship helps us to do that and we continue to ask the industry to please carry on supporting us.”

The Conveyancing Foundation was also one of the first in the business world to react to the Ukraine crisis and launched its own Ukraine Appeal which has so far raised over £31,000 for the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

Lloyd Davies said he was ‘’extremely proud’ of the charity fundraising record of the Foundation: “We have achieved so much for so many charities – including Ty Hafan and the DEC Ukraine Appeal – in a relatively short space of time but it is a team effort – everyone who works for the Foundation, the staff and conveyancers at our member legal practices, industry organisations and experts, charities and media who have backed us and the many businesses in the sector who have sponsored and supported us – all had their part to play and I thank them all for their support and generosity.

“I am delighted that the Charity Lotto has enabled us to achieve so much and I urge others to contact the Conveyancing Foundation to see how we can help them to support the charities that are dear to them as well as looking after their staff and each other.”

The Conveyancing Foundation has also recently appointed a dedicated Charities Co-ordinator Jade Morgan who can be contacted at info@ conveyancingfoundation.org.uk for all corporate Charity Lotto and sponsorship queries.