Sussex based Finance Planning Group has joined forces with Legal & General Mortgage Club to bring its brokers an original way of donating money to housing and homelessness charity Shelter. The scheme, known as “Brokering Change”, allows brokers to support the charity by donating a suggested £1 of the procuration fee they receive for each completed mortgage case.
This exclusive scheme is the first and only of its kind in the UK, and has proved hugely popular already with Finance Planning Group, which currently has most of its employees enrolled on the initiative.

All registered brokers receive a membership certificate, a Brokering Change logo to be used on their web and printed materials, and regular updates on how their money is helping homeless and badly housed people in the UK.

Donations from just a few mortgages could have a significant impact on families at risk of losing their home:

£5 a month could help protect a vulnerable family from repeat homelessness
£45 would pay for a Shelter adviser to be trained to deal with child protection and vulnerable adults
£245 could pay for 10 calls to Shelter’s helpline from people in housing need
£760 could pay for a Shelter adviser to help 40 families issue court proceedings that stop them being evicted
£5,107 would pay for the helpline to operate for a whole day
Legal & General has been working in partnership with Shelter since 2009 and with the help of companies such as the Finance Planning Group, it has so far raised over £100,000 for the charity. Anyone keen to learn more about the scheme can go to the Shelter Brokering Change website.
Terry McCutcheon Chief Executive at The Finance Planning Group says:
“There is a natural affinity between what we do to help people secure mortgages and the work that Shelter does to help people who are homeless or face losing their home, so we were very excited when Legal & General approached us to be part of this scheme. The programme has given all of our advisers not only a way of supporting a worthy cause, but also a better understanding of what Shelter does for the community. I’d definitely have no hesitation in recommending this to other firms.”

Stephen Smith, Director for Housing and External Affairs, Legal & General, says:
“Money raised for Shelter goes to a great cause and we are delighted to be working with both the Finance Planning Group and Shelter on this project. It is rewarding to offer our brokers an innovative way of supporting the charity and with the current housing problems, every new broker we get on board really will make a difference.”