Thousands of estate agents across the UK have spent the weekend fund raising for NHS staff and other key workers and we thought their efforts should not go unnoticed within the wider industry.

Here we report on just a few of the creative ideas and extraordinary efforts that agents have been employing to show their support during the Coronavirus crisis.

Video stars

Diss estate agent Kevin Parsons wanted to highlight local people doing their bit to help during the crisis with a ‘Hero of the Week’ video interview series posted on Facebook.

Parsons, who has his own agency in the town, has so far interviewed a range of volunteers and Coronavirus frontline staff including a café owner and a nurse.

“I’ve been working from home, so I haven’t had the chance to do any volunteering, but I’m the sort of person who can’t sit and do nothing,” he says. ”I thought, ‘what can I do to help the community?’

Food for thought

Murray Lee of Dreamview Estates in North London (pictured, top) has been busy helping support several initiatives including a ‘You Donate We Deliver’ service in his area for frontline workers and families who can’t get out to do their own shopping, which has also raised £54,000. It is currently delivery some 950 meals a day to NHS staff.

He has also started an online auction of services provided by 15 local businesses to raise cash, including an offer to sell someone’s home with bids starting at £1,000.

Display team

Chesterfield estate agency Lime Living has handed over its branch windows to local children’s ‘rainbow’ pictures thanking NHS staff and key workers.

“We initially asked family and friends who are home schooling if they would like their children to have some fun and create a poster for our town centre office window,” says director Jamie Wajs.

“We gave a simple brief of make it bright, with a supportive and positive message for anyone passing and in particular for key workers and NHS staff – all of whom we are all very grateful to for their continued hard work, bravery and unselfish efforts during this pandemic.”

Charity instruction

Mansfield agency BuckleyBrown is to donate £100 to a local food bank for every sales instruction it receives.

“We’re proud to be a local business and we always want to do what we can for the local community,” says co-director Jon Brown.

“For example, we have already donated food and items such as nappies to the foodbank.

“We wondered what more we could do and following a discussion with the foodbank, we decided that we will donate £100 of the selling fee for any new listing that is obtained before the end of May.”

Bench mark

Leanne Marshall (left), a director of Hunters Estate Agents in Beverley in Yorkshire is working with Beverley Chamber of Trade to fund a special bench in tribute to the NHS staff in Hull and healthcare staff everywhere.

She set up a fundraising page for people to donate to the appeal and to offer the chance to have the bench engraved with donors’ own special messages of support. Her effort is part of a wider local campaign that has so far raised £44,000 for two regional hospitals.