A year of Dawsons - 2021
What a year it’s been! We thought we’d take a look back over the last 12 months, at everything we’ve been up to at Dawsons Property.
January
Back at the start of the year, we celebrated our 30th birthday. That’s 30 years that we’ve been helping people find and sell their homes in South Wales. We wrote a post looking back over the last three decades of Dawsons, including some great photos!
January also saw us becoming Agents Giving supporters, and we’re proud to do so. Agents Giving support Estate and Letting Agents as well as industry suppliers, with their fundraising efforts for UK charities.
February
Sticking with the Agents Giving theme, in February our very own Marketing Co-Ordinator, Naomi Webborn became the Agents Giving Regional Ambassador for South Wales! With charities taking a hit to fundraising due to Covid over the last couple of years, the Regional Ambassador roles are really important, keeping an eye out for opportunities to support agents in their money-raising efforts.
We were also delighted to sponsor Trebanos RFC Jr. and the Swansea Disabled Supporters Association (DSA) and give them both our ongoing support.
To find out more about what Swansea DSA do to provide an enjoyable and safe match day experience for those with disabilities, you can visit their website here.
March
We jumped at the chance to become an official sponsor for the Langland Bay Lifeguard Club. Amazingly, this is run entirely by volunteers, primarily to offer aquatic-based lifesaving and first aid training to people of all ages.
South Wales is such a fantastic place to live, work and play, and we wanted to ensure that we were putting our mouths are when it comes to our motto “Safe as houses”. With this in mind, supporting this fantastic cause was a no brainer.
In 2020, 51 hours of voluntary patrols resulted in 33 rescues, 4 of which were counted as ‘lives saved’, so the work they do is so, so important. You can learn more here.
From out at sea to feet firmly on solid ground, March was also the month for taking a lot of steps. Several members of the team laced up their trainers and took part in March for March alongside TDS in order to raise much-needed funds for Refuge, women and children against domestic violence, as well as Stepping together for Maggies Cancer support.
April
The Go Underhill project in Mumbles revolves around improving the park infrastructure and developing Underhill Park as a community hub for the people of Mumbles and the surrounding area.
In April, Naomi joined the Go Underhill fundraising committee for Dawsons, and it’s a project we’re delighted to continue to support. You can learn more about what the project involves and at what stage we’re at on the Go Underhill website.
May
For a bit of sunshine and to celebrate Children’s National Gardening Week, we ran a sunflower competition. We sent sunflower seeds to Cwmrhydyceirw School in Maes Y Gwernen Rd, where Reception and Year 1 all helped to grow the tallest sunflowers! This was a fantastic bit of gardening joy for all involved.
June
In June, we took part in a foodbank collection with the Relocation Agent Network (RAN). Supporting local foodbanks is absolutely vital - now even more than ever, so Naomi jumped in the Dawsons van and collected items from all of our collection point branches to donate to our local foodbanks.
July
July saw Naomi lacing up her trainers once more, and taking off running 1K every single day in July to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital, and the work they do with children born with the rare condition TOFS, like Naomi’s son George.
We also launched the Brave, Bold and Brilliant team programme, creating a forward-thinking task force from especially enthusiastic members of the team in conjunction with Jeanette Linfoot’s Mastermind programme. Look at all those smiling faces!
Finally in July, (it was a busy month!) we got a bold new look and underwent a complete rebrand. We launched a competition, asking people to take selfies next to our new boards in order to win NDJohn wine cards for a prize. We had some brilliant entries which absolutely put a smile on our faces.
August
In August we took part in ‘100K our way’ to raise funds for the MS Society. That involved very literally, deciding how to ‘do 100K’ and then doing it throughout the month of August. Lots of the team got involved, and much fun was had.
We were also proud sponsors of Mumbles RFC’s Cracker’s 7s once again with lots of rugby, live music and a BBQ.
September
Moving into Autumn, September was another busy month with the Agents Giving Awards.
We also donated high vis jackets to Oystermouth Primary School for their walking bus - a brilliant initiative where parents drop their children with designated adults to walk to school together.
We also had fantastic The Crazy Baker join our reward card scheme, and now Dawsons reward card holders are spoilt for choice when it comes to doughnut flavours.
October
We were absolutely delighted to support Elanna Smith in her bid to become Miss Wales.
We were also absolutely honoured for Dawsons Training Wales to win the award for Best in Real Estate Compliance at the Wales Prestige Awards. Definitely click to learn more if you need to take your Rent Smart Wales training.
We were also able to have a Dawsons' birthday bash to celebrate 30 years of moving people in South Wales, with great thanks to AU Vodka.
November
We were also delighted to be able to support a local primary school for a year, in order for children to learn about the environmental plight of the honey bee under the 2BEnterprising School Scheme. Matt and Naomi visited Penyhreol Primary School with Bumbles of Honeywood to work with the children on networking and confidence-building skills. Much fun was had by all, and we think we may even have met some estate agents of the future!
We also decorated our windows with poppies for remembrance, something we feel very strongly about - and which was much commented on by the local community who appreciated the visual reminder of remembrance.
It was also another great month for awards, finding ourselves in the Best Estate Agents Guide again with winning awards for both sales and lettings at the EA Masters. Dawsons Training Wales was also awarded silver in the best small supplier category - which was fantastic news!
December
Christmas is a time to spend with family, but it’s also a time to do what we can to help others enjoy the festive season. With this in mind, we once again ramped up our charity efforts taking part in Christmas Jumper Day in aid of Save the Children, the Mr X Appeal collecting gifts for underprivileged children, and the Agents Giving stocking campaign which saw people fill stockings with food for Swansea food bank.
Over the last two years, small businesses have also suffered badly, so we’ve been promoting #shoplocal across all of our social media channels, and we’ve been running an #ecoChristmas competition for local children to make Christmas decorations out of things that may ordinarily be thrown away!
And finally, last but not least, December also saw our very own Naomi shortlisted for Employee of the Year in the Relocation Agent Network awards which is so well deserved.
Phew! We wonder what 2022 will bring…