The Conveyancing Foundation’s Be Kind We Care initiative, launched during the pandemic, to encourage kindness between professionals in the property and conveyancing industry, has been named as the first official charity partner of the British Conveyancing Awards.
The second British Conveyancing Awards – and its first live attended ceremony – will be held on March 15, 2022, in London, following the event’s launch and virtual ceremony in 2021 during the Pandemic.
The charity was chosen after Awards organisers were impressed by its principles and aims and its provision of practical advice and resources.
The Be Kind We Care initiative was launched in early 2021 by the not-for-profit Conveyancing Foundation to combat the many stories the Foundation was hearing about professionals being unkind to each other as the stress of the pandemic and new working conditions started to take their toll.
Not only did the Foundation want to reverse this growing trend by encouraging professionals to consider the impact of treating each other harshly but it also wanted to promote wellbeing within the conveyancing, legal and property sectors at a time of unprecedented pressures.
Be Kind We Care has partnered with charities LawCare, Agents Together and the Mindstep Foundation to provide resources for business and individuals in the form of an online Resource Hub. The hub hosts articles, podcasts and videos aimed at promoting good mental health and wellbeing within the workplace.
In the last year, Be Kind We Care has also joined with industry experts from these organisations and with other senior figures from the worlds of conveyancing, law and property along with mental health and wellbeing experts to create a series of informative webinars.
In 2022, Be Kind We Care has already held its first webinar of the year – a forum on Junior Lawyers and the support available to them – and, in 2021, hosted successful webinars on stress management and sharing mental health best practice.
Be Kind We Care also set a first year fundraising target of £30,000 to raise much-needed funds for mental health support charities. It has already raised over £20,000 thanks to the support of its industry sponsors and hopes to reach its target by the anniversary of its launch in April 2022. Fundraising at the British Conveyancing Awards will be donated to Be Kind We Care.
Lloyd Davies, Chairman of the Conveyancing Foundation said:
“We are absolutely delighted to be named as the official charity partner of the British Conveyancing Awards and to be the charity partner in the year of its first attended ceremony in London.
The support we have had from the conveyancing and property industries since our launch has been very impressive. Everyone has overwhelmingly backed the aims of our appeal to professionals to be kinder to each other and so to improve mental wellbeing and promote better mental health in the property, legal and conveyancing sectors.”
Mr Davies added:
“Thanks to the support from other industry wellbeing organisations such as LawCare and Agents Together, we have been able to present a united front of mental health promotion and resources. We are also extremely grateful to have attracted sponsorship from organisations across the industries who have backed our work. We look forward to continuing to raise our profile this year and, as part of this, to be the charity partner of the forthcoming awards.”
David Opie from Today’s Media, organisers of the British Conveyancing Awards said:
“The Be Kind We Care initiative really struck a chord across the property, conveyancing and legal worlds when it launched last year at such a critical juncture. We are fully aligned with the aims of Be Kind We Care and we believe it is helping to move the industry in the right direction. It was therefore a perfect fit to choose Be Kind We Care as the first official charity partner of the Awards.”
He added:
“As the 2022 Awards look towards the future of the industry, it is entirely appropriate for us to back Be Kind We Care which has helped – and is helping – to make that future kinder and brighter for so many in the industry.”