Birmingham’s property professionals broke the watershed at an annual spoof property awards lunch to raise over £32,000 for charity.
The Brenda Awards, now in its 13th year, is the annual tongue-in-cheek awards event that sees the Birmingham commercial property sector join forces to raise funds for disadvantaged children across the West Midlands.
This year’s event, staged at the Burlington Hotel and attended by over 370 influential property professionals, collected £32,158 for Property for Kids. The main charity this year is Teenage Cancer Trust, and in light of the recent atrocity in Manchester, a last-minute donation was also made to support the families and victims affected.
The theme this year bore resemblance to a popular reality TV series in which opinionated TV viewers give their views on television shows. The show was hosted by Jilly Cosgrove, of Barques Design, Lucy Hansell, of Estilo Interiors, Rupert Young, of Nurton Developments, and Simon Marks, of Arcadis.
Prior to the show, groups of four were taken to Birmingham Hippodrome and Staying Cool and shown popular TV events and current affairs with an artistic twist and were awarded on their reactions. The awards – a collection of red painted garden gnomes – were presented to nine brave participants whose antics raised the roof and a fair few eyebrows as guests tucked into a delicious two-course lunch at the Burlington Hotel.
Winners included Rob Watts, of GVA; Rob Valentine, of Bruntwood; Lorna Devane-Porter, of CBRE; Emel Ahmet, of Colliers; Andrew Franck-Steier, of Franck-Steier Price; Julia Court, of Claremont.and Justin Quibell, of Cushman & Wakefield, who truly stole the show. A final award was given for Services to Industry to Terry Corns, Julian Shellard and Peter Burford, whose VT could have played on throughout the entire lunch. Peter is a BRENDAs veteran and was involved in the early days of the event.
Auction lots included two chef’s tables of eight for a five-course meal at Opus @ Cornwall Street, which raised £4,000, donated by Benniman and Opus; four tickets to an England v Samoa rugby game in Twickenham, which raised £1,250, donated by Stoford; four tickets to an England v West Indies test cricket match at Edgbaston Cricket Ground, which raised £1,100, donated by Goodman and two Wimbledon Debenture tickets, which raised £1,100, donated by Formal Holdings.
Brenda’s committee chairman Jilly Cosgrove said: “The BRENDAs are the highlight of the Birmingham commercial property industry calendar and their kindness and generosity never ceases to amaze us at Property For Kids. Thanks to the ongoing support of the industry, Property For Kids has been able to help improve the lives of many disadvantaged young people for 13 years, and we intend to continue to do so for the next 13 years at least.”
Last year, Property for Kids distributed £43,000 to various causes including Sunfield, which provides a range of services for children and young people aged six to 19 with complex learning needs including those with profound autism. The charity also donated money to purchase a new car for NICE – a charity in Edgbaston that helps to improve the lives of children and adults with neurological movement disorders. The new car will help the charity to facilitate home visits for those that cannot get to the centre.