Category: Chancerygate Foundation


Chancerygate launches charitable foundation for black and minority ethnic students to celebrate 25th anniversary year

By Ada Ioannidis,

Chancerygate has announced the launch of its charitable foundation to encourage and enable black and minority ethnic students to build long-term careers within the property industry.

The not-for-profit Chancerygate Foundation has been established by Chancerygate chairman, Andrew Johnson, and his wife, and it was given charitable status by The Charity for England and Wales earlier this month. The Foundation has been launched to celebrate the 25 year anniversary of Chancerygate.

The Foundation’s mission is to help create an inclusive and diverse UK real estate sector where people from disadvantaged black and minority ethnic backgrounds can thrive and succeed. Only one per cent of the 35,306 RICS members who qualified in 2020 stated they were of black ethnicity (classed in the data as being from an African, Caribbean or ‘other’ background).

Through its scholarship programme, the Foundation offers bursaries to qualifying students, allowing them to access RICS-accredited courses at higher-level education establishments.

Andrew Johnson said: “Securing charitable status is an important first step towards the Foundation achieving its mission of addressing the lack of diversity in the UK property industry. We started the Foundation with a very clear goal – to help as many black and minority ethnic students as possible to embark on careers in property.

“One of the most challenging barriers faced by black and minority students leaving university is to find a job. The Chancerygate Foundation will help those students throughout their university experience and mentor them as they take the first steps on the road to a property career.”

For more information on the Chancerygate Foundation visit www.chancerygatefoundation.com

Autumn work experience | Rafa Gurafi

By Ada Ioannidis,

The Chancerygate Foundation was established to support and advance opportunities in the property sector for young people from ethnic minorities.

This Autumn we had Rafa Gurafi from King Solomon Academy join us for two days of work experience to learn more about what goes on behind the scenes at Chancerygate.

Here’s what Rafa had to say about her experience:

“Having grown up in a deprived area, I rarely expected good opportunities to come out of living and studying here; Chancerygate has given me the opportunity to gain knowledge and experience about the field I plan to go into in the future – Property Development. Throughout my time at Chancerygate, I visited a current project in Chertsey, where I was able to find out more about the role of a project manager, what responsibilities they have, and their accountability for the entire project scope. As someone who is a practical learner, seeing the construction site first-hand has given me a better understanding of the roles that come with working in commercial property, which helped me to better comprehend the information I was being taught.

On the second day of my work experience, I was welcomed into the Chancerygate London office, where I got to learn about the roles of an asset manager, development manager and marketing manager, and how all the roles and responsibilities come together. I found it interesting learning about how projects are always seen through from conception to completion. From this experience, I have learnt how to cope in a new working environment.

I am grateful to have gained the knowledge I did, which I can apply to my course at university next year. I am also grateful for the opportunity to have met and networked with people who can help me with my future career plans. I would like to thank Chancerygate for introducing me into the world of commercial property and for having me partake in this program.”

We’re currently working hard to get our Chancerygate Foundation website live. In the meantime, should you have any queries at all, please get in touch with Amanda Walker, Foundation Director at awalker@chancerygatefoundation.org