Sixteen employees from the Birmingham office of commercial property consultancy CBRE have taken part in a 1,000-mile relay to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.
The CBRE 2012 relay saw the baton pass from each of the firm’s 15 UK and Ireland offices, through the hands of more than 100 employees over a period of three weeks.
The baton left CBRE’s Aberdeen office on 1 May and finished in London on 22 May. Covering 1,000 miles in total, the relay required each office team to use varying modes of transport to deliver the baton to its next destination.
The baton reached Birmingham on 15 May with the 16 employees in charge of taking it to Bristol.
The Birmingham leg of the relay started at CBRE’s office in Cornwall Street with a team member pogo sticking their way to Two Colmore Square. Then, following a short run to Fazeley Street Bridge, two team members took over via kayak. The baton then made its way on foot via Birmingham Airport to four teams of cyclists who completed stages before reaching the Bristol office.
Jonathan Brice, a graduate surveyor in CBRE’s Birmingham valuation team, organised and took part in the relay. He said: “The whole team enjoyed the day and we hope to have raised a lot of money for Habitat for Humanity. Although I think that Phil Bartleet, a senior surveyor in the valuation team, definitely had the biggest challenge as he had to pogo stick his way across Birmingham in the rain.”
Habitat for Humanity is an international housing charity with the aim of improving living conditions throughout the world. CBRE’s overall target for the relay is to raise £8,000 for the charities Dagenham project.
The project will bring three derelict flats back to life and provide affordable housing to three families who are in need of housing in Dagenham, East London. This is part of the charities response to the problem of 35,000 empty homes falling into decay in London.
Four CBRE employees from the Birmingham office will also be volunteering their time throughout May to help with the renovation work.