Three charities are to benefit as the new chairman of Portsmouth Property Association takes the chain of office in its centenary year.
Chris Green, 44, was officially handed the reins by predecessor Tom Holloway at the PPA, which was founded in 1920 and has a 130-strong membership.
Samantha Marsh at law firm Glanvilles was elected vice-chair.
Poignantly, two of the three charities Chris has selected have been inspired by two highly-respected PPA members.
One suffered a stroke, affecting speech, and another has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, having been in remission from the disease.
A member of the PPA since the early 2000s, Chris is a conveyancing searches specialist and regional manager at PSG Connect.
He accepted the honorary title of chairman for 2019/20 at the PPA’s annual general meeting.
Each chair nominates a charity or charities of his or her choice – in the second year of his back-to-back chairmanship Tom raised £8,000 for Dallaglio RugbyWorks.
Founded by World Cup winner Lawrence Dallaglio, the charity helps disadvantaged local teenagers turn their lives around through fresh opportunity, with centres set up in Gosport and Havant.
Southsea-based Tonic Music for Mental Health is one of the three charities Chris, who was PPA vice-chairman, will be raising funds for.
Cancer charity PLANETS and a charity relating to the Stroke Association are the others.
“It is an absolute privilege to be the chairman of the PPA in its centenary year, following in the footsteps of dozens of property professionals who have helped shape the Portsmouth region since the end of the First World War,” said Chris.
“Next March’s PPA centenary dinner is set to be the largest of its kind in living memory, with upwards of 450 people attending, and to be chairman during this particular time is incredibly exciting.
“I am proud to be backing three local charities, two of which have been stirred by the experiences of two highly regarded PPA members – one is recovering from a stroke and the other has had to bear the terrible news that her pancreatic cancer has returned.”
PPA members include estate agents, auctioneers, lettings and property management agents, commercial property agents, chartered surveyors, developers, accountants, solicitors and bankers.
Established in 1920, the umbrella group promotes and maintains the highest professional ethics and integrity among its members, providing additional reassurance to customers.
Taking place at Portsmouth Guildhall, the black-tie centenary dinner is on Friday, March 13th 2020, and is set to be the business community’s networking highlight of the year.
Tom, a director at independent chartered surveyors and commercial and industrial property consultants Holloway Iliffe & Mitchell in Portsmouth, was only the third person in over half a century to hold the chairmanship for back-to-back years.
To date the PPA has raised around £110,000 for local charities in the past 14 years, with the association’s annual black-tie fundraiser a key driver.
Last month (February) just over £6,606 was raised for Dallaglio RugbyWorks at the annual charity dinner, held at the city’s Royal Maritime Club and sponsored by Verisona Law.
The PPA was established in 1920, when King George V reigned, Lloyd George was Prime Minister and the body of The Unknown Warrior from the First World War arrived from France for symbolic burial in Westminster Abbey.
