Our community: St Christopher's Hospice

We know it is helpful to people moving home to have an insight into the community they are looking to move into. So we have already started a series of postings about local schools, and we will be writing about other things including, on this occasion, a very deserving charity.

St Christopher’s is the first modern hospice, founded by Dame Cicely Saunders in 1967. They say that:

"Our vision is of a world in which all dying people and those close to them have access to appropriate care and support, when they need it, wherever they need it and whoever they are."

Comedienne Jo Brand joined the recent Midnight Walk

"We care for around 650 people on any one day serving a population of over 1.5 million in the London boroughs of Southwark, Lewisham, Lambeth, Bromley and Croydon. Our services include palliative care from specialist doctors and nurses, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, social work, bereavement and psychiatric support, creative therapies, complementary therapies and spiritual care. We also carry out extensive research and education, training over 12,000 health and social care staff a year."

"To continue these services costs £15 million each year, around £10 million of which must come from fundraising activities. The St Christopher’s Group comprises St Christopher’s Hospice in Sydenham and Harris HospisCare in Orpington."

We also asked for a few words from the people the hospice helps.

“I feel safe, I love it. Before I came here it took me a while to accept what was wrong. I was very frightened. When I came here all my fear went, I completely changed. You forget that you’re ill, it’s nice not to be thinking about being ill. The only day that my family don’t worry about me is the day I come here” (patient)

“I have been lucky enough, following the death of my wife, to have received bereavement counselling. I would just like to register my thanks for your help in easing me through a very difficult period of my life. Whilst my grieving continues I now feel much better equipped to face all of my tomorrows” (widow)

If you have any time to spare to raise money for a good cause, remember this one.

Website here, Facebook here, Twitter here

Harris Hospiscare website here, Facebook here, Twitter here

Our team: Hayley Mortimer

The latest member of our staff to be featured in this blog is Hayley Mortimer, who joined us in Summer 2012.

Hayley pictured at her desk

Hayley is based in our Tulse Hill Branch in the role of administrator, providing support to one of our Directors, John Adamthwaite (himself yet to be featured in our blog, but you can read about him here).

Hayley attended Bullers Wood School in Chislehurst through to Sixth Form. Hayley went on to further education at Orpington College, leaving to enter the IT Recruitment world. 

Hayley lives in Bromley with her 3 year old daughter, who keeps her very busy and highly amused. 

Useful post: South London local online

At Edward Ashdale we enjoy communicating and being part of local life.  One of the nice things that you can do with a blog is to be helpful, which is why we already have posts giving information about local schools - we will be updating those and adding to them -, and a "property related services to consider" post.

This "South London local online" post combines social media (well, we are 21st century estate agents) and local communities. It's not always easy to find the online communities where people get together online in South London, so we thought we'd offer some helpful links here. Want to find local people socialising and contributing to local life online? This is a blog post to add to your Favourites, and if you think we should add an online community we've missed, let us know. More will be added as we discover them.

In alphabetical order:

Beckenham

Beckenham Town us - Website here, Twitter here

Crystal Palace

- Crystal Palace People - website here, Twitter here

Norwood

- Virtual Norwood. Website here, Twitter here

Orpington

- Orpington Community. Website here, Twitter here

Tulse Hill

- Tulse Hill Forum. Website here, Twitter here

In the news again

With the publication of the latest Bromley and Bexley Property Mart magazine, we're in the news again.  Following one of our properties being on the cover of the magazine earlier this year here, and the last issue carrying a featured property, this time there is a profile which talks about the way we work, and also about our innovative (and fun) series of community-inspired, recipe card leaflets.

You can view the magazine here. The page pictured to the right, together with our latest page showcasing our properties for sale and lettings, is on pages 20 to 21. 

In an exclusive to this blog, we can confirm that the next recipe flyer will be a recipe for cheese biscuits from the Cookery Club of the Worsley Bridge Junior School in Beckenham.  We're grateful to the Head Teacher, staff and pupils of the school for helping us and we're already looking forward to testing the recipe for ourselves. 

And we must again thank the Blackbird Bakery of Herne Hill, Crystal Palace, East Dulwich Grove, and West Norwood, which contributed the lemon tart recipe which was in the leaflet that included the tasty picture in the Property Mart page above. And also for the use of their brand to the left, which moves!  Just watch it closely.

Why not drop into our branch in Bromley or Tulse Hill and pick the recipe leaflet up? If you need to find us, just look at our website.

And of course, we're here for you if you need to buy, sell, let or rent a property or if you require a property management service.  As the Property Mart said, we're a Recipe for Success.

Great estate agents blend the old and the new

You may have noticed that we call ourselves 21st century estate agents with traditional values.

22 years of service and counting

We believe that by putting things that have worked in our business for many years together with new approaches and technology, we will succeed for ourselves and for our clients.  A lot of our succcess is based on everyday, friendly contact with people in our branches, in their streets, and in the homes we're helping to sell, buy, let or manage. We do like a coffee and a chat. That will never change. 

At the same time, we innovate. We have this blog, our Twitter account @edwardashdale, and we've been using Quick Recognition (QR) codes before many other estate agents. 

We have other things going on or planned that will build on our success. What success? Look no further than our tweet just two days ago:

Safe - in black and white. And blue

"Another happy #Landlord. Referred by father this morning, keys given, viewing, offer, 12 months in advance, accepted! 3hrs approx #lettings" 

And another tweet that shows our commitment to our clients:

 "New paper work confirming we are @Safeagent for another year just arrived in post. 3:42!!! #RoyalMail pic.twitter.com/uWQhewZ"

For the record -  SAFE Agent is a Government endorsed mark denoting firms that protect landlords and tenants money through client money protection schemes - http://www.safeagents.co.uk 

So, if you use Edward Ashdale you can be assured of a quality service and of our strong commitment to our  clients (and to coffee). 

Professional photography: an essential part of our service

Without a professional

At Edward Ashdale, we use professional photographers to take the interior and exterior photographs of the properties we are engaged to sell or let.  A number of estate agents take their own photographs, and it shows in their windows and brochures.  

We could join those estate agents and take photos with our own cameras or mobile phones.  We won't be doing that, because the benefit of professional photography is that it helps us let or sell homes, which is why people choose us. 

Professional results

Put simply, professional photography produces professional results. And being professional is one of our values.

Professionally taken photos show homes in their best light. Literally, in fact because one of the things that a professional photographer does is to ensure that his or her photos are well lit.  This is often one of the things that shows whether or not a professional has taken photos. 

Amateur efforts are frequently gloomy, dull, and ill-lit, whereas professional photos are sharp, bright and attractive. 

We like to say that with Edward Ashdale, our clients enjoy "a brighter approach to moving".  

When it comes to our use of professional photography, this is especially true.

Our team: Sam Samuel

Sam Samuel, MNAEA CRLM, is one of our three Directors, and is the third of our team to feature in our blog, following John Campolini and Derrick  Boyce.

Sam is a man of many talents, and definitely enjoys the innovative aspects of our approach to being a 21st century estate agents with traditional values, frequently tweeting as @edwardashdale.  Though he does seem to use this to celebrate or bemoan his status as a supporter of Milwall FC quite a lot, you can also find useful links and observations about property matters through his tweets.

Sam left St Josephs Academy School in Blackheath to join the Royal Navy in 1989. Following six years of service, he made the switch from serviceman to civilian and began employment with Southwark Housing as a Housing Assistant. After achieving the Higher National Certificate in Social Housing & Management, Sam was promoted to Housing Officer. In 1997 he was approached by an outside associate for a role as Letting Agent in a start up lettings business in Bromley. 

Sam gained invaluable experience off the back of the ‘Buy-to-Let Boom’ era. After 10 years, in 2007 he formed the business Ashdale Estate Agents. In 2011 Ashdale Estate Agents were approached by W Edwards Property Consultants with a view to merging the companies. Thus Edward Ashdale Estate Agents were born.
 
Sam is 39, lives with his wife Michaela in Kent, has a four year old daughter, and an eight year old Bull Mastiff. Sam is an avid sportsman; he has played football, boxing, rugby and basketball, all at a high level. More recently, Sam has become a golfer with a handicap of 18. Sam still plays seven a-side football with old team mates, is a member of Shortlands Golf Club and attends charity golf events when the time allows, but he is committed to his role in business.