RICS HQ recently held a staff event celebrating Chinese New Year. This doubled up as a charity event with all the evenings profits going to Adopt Sri Lanka, a charity set up in the aftermath of the Tsunami disaster, to rebuild homes and buy fishing boats.
The total amount raised was a tremendous 603.23 pounds sterling. This alone will buy four traditional shrimp fishing boats and give a living independence and a life back to eight or 10 families near Tangalle.
Pictured are RICS staff members Suzanne Ellingham (left) and Tim Reid (right) presenting a cheque to Juliet Bray who is championing the project.
For more information on the projects underway please see the download column (top right).
Million Metre Row
Further fundraising activity for the Tsunami aid effort is due to take place on the 7-8 April with the 'Million Metre Row'.
Four teams of five RICS members will attempt to row 1 million metres in 24 hours to raise money for post-Tsunami recovery in Sri Lanka – the worst hit country by percentage of population and economy.
Organiser Stuart Earl of Gleeds explains:
“While many have donated to big aid agencies for immediate humanitarian relief, we want to appeal to RICS members to support specific construction projects and other work that will help people get back on their feet – and stay there.
“We are aiming to cover 1 million metres in 24 hours on indoor rowing machines at RICS headquarters, starting at 0900 on 7 April. Each team member will have to cover at least 50 000 metres (30 miles), which will take between 5 000 and 7 000 strokes and burn up to 4 000 calories.”
The event has attracted members from various sporting backgrounds, but the organisers are still keen to hear from people who would like to join a team or help out with the event.
Sir Steve Redgrave, the five-time Olympic Rowing Gold medallist, whose charitable trust is funding work in the region, says:
“It is very commendable that you are proposing to raise money for such a worthy cause, and I wish you the best of luck.”
Volunteers (rowers and support) should contact Jane Preston at Aston Rose on +44 (0)20 7629 1533.
Donations by cheque only please, made payable to “RICS”, sent to: “Rowing Challenge”, RICS, 12 Great George Street, Parliament Square, London SW1P 3AD.
Gift Aid forms will be sent to donors for completion and return. RICS will forward completed forms to charities with final payment.
For sponsorship opportunities, contact Juliet Bray at RICS on +44 (0)20 7334 3705. So far the following companies have signed up:
- Rowing machines supplied by Concept Ltd
- Water supplied by J Sainsbury
- Catering supplied by Directors Table
Notes
100% of the money raised will go to the following:
The Commonwealth Housing Trust: UK charity chaired by former RICS President Clifford Dann MBE, building homes.
AdoptSriLanka: building homes and buying fishing boats, co-founded by RICS staff member Juliet Bray, who survived the Tsunami (Charity Commission application pending).
Hela Sarana: UK charity aiming to build 100 homes in the Southern Province.
Build Aid: network of construction professionals and suppliers already working in Sri Lanka, founded by chartered surveyor Robert Muir (Charity Commission application pending).
Moratuwa University: the university, which has the first RICS-accredited surveying course in the region, has been badly hit, losing many students and suffering from a funding shortage.
Lionheart: financial assistance and counselling for RICS members and their dependants affected by the disaster, from the profession’s own charity.
Sir Steve Redgrave’s Charitable Trust: the five-times Olympic rowing gold medallist’s charity is funding work in the region.
Construction Faculty initiatives
Launce Morgan and Michael Byng, Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the RICS Construction Faculty, are working with the Construction Industry Council, The UK Government’s Department for International Development , and UK Construction Minister Nigel Griffiths, to assess how best members with relevant experience can contribute to the relief and reconstruction effort.
The faculty also hopes to raise funds for emergency surveys.
Launce, who himself has experience of relief work following flooding, comments:
“I am very keen to get together a register of members with useful expertise and experience. Construction skills will be very much in demand once the immediate medical and food needs have been met.“
Members with relevant experience should contact mgoodwin@rics.org
Building Control Forum appeal
RICS Building Control Forum Chair, Tracy Aarons, has written to all Forum members, urging them to contribute to the Disaster Emergency Committee’s appeal, and to stand ready for when calls for professional help come from aid agencies:
“The Forum has a history of offering its members’ services in the wake of disasters around the world – it is likely that members with the right skills could be utilised over the next few months.”
University of Moratuwa appeal
The University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka is the first university in the developing world to gain RICS recognition for its surveying courses. 300 students are missing, and many have lost family, friends and homes in the disaster, while the university itself will struggle more than ever for basics such as books and papers. It costs more for a single textbook from the UK than a week’s salary for a lecturer at Moratuwa. Dilanthi Amarantunga of the University of Salford, who is from Sri Lanka, is organising an appeal for funds and teaching materials such as books and periodicals: r.d.g.amaratunga@salford.ac.uk
