The charity foundation and its conveyancing members have raised nearly £1m since its 2010 launch, for such causes as the British Red Cross, Comic Relief and Save The Children.
It also launched the ‘Be Kind We Care’ drive for those in the conveyancing, legal and property industries earlier this year, which asked those working in them “to have more thought for how they treat each other in everyday business dealings” amid the intense pandemic workload.
The charity released its inaugural webinar on stress management in April, which it says “provided expert advice on spotting the signs of stress and mental overload early in yourself and others”.
Staff across the property chain have seen workloads lift following the introduction of a stamp duty holiday in July 2020 by chancellor Rishi Sunak, which waived the tax on properties valued up to £500,000 to kick-start the housing market that had stalled in the wake of the first March lockdown.
Earlier this month, the nil-rate threshold was reduced from £500,000 to £250,000 until the end of September.
From 1 October, the threshold will return to £125,000 – or £300,000 for first-time buyers purchasing a property worth up to £500,000.
In May, a report found brokers were working more hours, under greater stress, with little company support throughout the pandemic, according to Crystal Specialist Finance.
It said that around 17.5% of advisors said their “mental wellbeing” was an issue of concern, up from 7% in August 2020.
It also found that those working over 45 hours per week increased to 66.2% from 62.1% a year ago.
Thirdfort managing director Olly Thornton-Berry says: “Over the past year, we have witnessed the unprecedented stress that has been placed on the industry from rapid increases in transaction volumes and, of course, disruption from the pandemic.”
The Conveyancing Academy is the official training partner of the Society for Licensed Conveyancers and the Conveyancing Association.
Conveyancing Academy business development manager James Smith says: “It is vital that we don’t just talk about wellbeing but do something to protect it and help those already in need.
“The Conveyancing Foundation is doing a fantastic job in tackling some very difficult issues and we are also delighted to support them.”
Georgia Davies from the Conveyancing Foundation adds: “’Be Kind We Care’ has really struck a chord within the industry in a year in which conveyancers have been under incredible levels of stress triggered by the challenges of the pandemic such as remote working combined with the surge in transactions because of shifting demographic patterns and the stamp duty holiday.
“That stress has had a knock-on effect on those working in affiliated industries too and we wanted to help alleviate that by both drawing attention to what was happening and providing some practical resources to tackle it.
“Every penny we receive in sponsorship helps us to provide more practical resources to do that.”
