Real estate professionals and former international cricket stars rubbed shoulders in the annual Prideview Cricket Cup in London earlier this month, helping to bring the tournament's total fundraising to a quarter of a million pounds over its 12-year history.
Major Estates Harrow finished victorious at the 6-a-side tournament with the help of former England international bowler Saj Mahmood, beating event newcomers Spector Constant & Williams at a sunny Merchant Taylors' School in Northwood, Hillingdon.
Other sporting stars, such as former England batsman Owais Shah and South Africa cricket coach Herschelle Gibbs, formed part of the other teams taking part in the contest, with Allsop, Vail Williams, REIM Capital and Pitchside all involved this year.
The event raised more than £40,000 this year for One Kind, a charitable organisation that works to improve the lives of people suffering from poverty of health and education around the world.
This year’s funds were split between three charities: Made with Hope, supporting disadvantaged children in Tanzania with education and menstrual support; YUVA Unstoppable, which provides basic needs and educational support to children in India; and LandAid, the property industry charity, working to end youth homelessness in the UK.
Prideview's event has raised almost £250,000 for One Kind Act over the last 12 years. Nilesh Patel, the property consultancy's principal, told CoStar News that he was in the habit of fundraising after organising events at university. He explained how the event came about.
"When I joined Prideview 15 years ago, I saw it as a great way to bring something to the property industry. You get a lot of golf days, you don’t get many cricket days, and I’m a member of the club here, so I know how good the facilities are.
"It started more as a family day, hosting it on the weekend, and then we realised that there was a market in our corporate world where people wanted a day out in July, they want a break from the office and from working every single day."
He added: "We invite every different discipline from the property sector. We have agents, investors, lawyers, bankers, architects, surveyors, so we try and convince firms from every background to come to the day. It’s a mini ecosystem for our private investor market."
The Prideview Cricket Cup will return next year, with Major Estates Harrow tipped as one of the early favourites for the competition after multiple wins. Patel encouraged other property businesses to join the lineup for next summer.
He said: "Obviously, this is a bit of fun, but you can gain a lot from cricket as a sport. There are many top business people who play, but don’t have enough time to get on the pitch. So it’s a vehicle for them to put on their pads and raise money for charity.
"We would like to see more involvement from other firms. We’ve been saying for a number of years that we would like some of the larger firms to get involved and support because there are sponsorship opportunities and it’s a great day above all."