Charlotte Grobien
Welcome


Welcome to the "Give it Away" web site and thank you for taking the time to visit our project. I am often asked how the idea of Give it Away came about and the answer is this. We undertook a fairly major property conversion on our own home nearly 4 years ago now and because we have 5 cats we decided that there was no other option than to live through it and with it, and be good about it! Nothing can prepare you for 6 months of intense building work, but the end result was more than we could have hoped for and for the most part, we had enjoyed the experience.

One of the main reasons that our own project had been completed so smoothly was the dedication and excellence of the team that we had around us, and since we all decided we would like to "do it again", the idea for Give it Away took shape. Having worked for several years voluntarily in the Wandsworth Borough, both with primary schools, secondary schools, the prison and as an individual mentor to young people needing help, I decided that we should go into the property business, not to make money for individuals, but to identify a wide variety of charities focusing on children and young people, and donate all the profits from the developments to them.

Where possible priority is being given to local charities in London and the Borough of Wandsworth, who are not receiving large, if any, statutory funding grants and who rely on donated money to fund their activities. I have visited all the charities we are supporting and their work is dedicated and tireless. It will give us all an enormous amount of pleasure to be able to make substantial donations to these organisations, knowing that they are making a positive difference to many young lives.

I should also like to thank everyone who is actively supporting us. When we approached suppliers and explained the project and its aims, the generosity we were shown was amazing and very touching. Please visit the Supporters page where we have listed those who have helped our project.

We will update this web site regularly with information about our progress, suppliers we need to help us, and information about the charities and evnetually our successful sales!. If you can help in any way, please contact us

Charlotte Grobien
Chairperson and Managing Director
Contact Us

Update
November 2009
I am delighted to say that both apartments in Queen Mary’s Place are now rented out and Give it Away has been able to share some more pink envelope moments! The first beneficiary was Small Steps, a pre-school in Putney, who offer children from 0-4 kindergarten places.  These children often have multiple disabilities and the special care and facilities offered by Small Steps offers both them and their families the only environment in which they can have a chance to mix with other kiddies of the same age and have that important pre-school experience.  Small Steps are wholly reliant on donated funds and Give it Away will continue to support them.

Give It AwayThe second donation went to Whizz-kidz who provide motorised wheelchairs for children and teenagers.  I went along to a reception at the House of Lord’s on December 1st and had great pleasure in presenting a cheque to Jamie, who is chairman of the Whizz-kidz board.  I have every confidence that Give it Away’s support of Whizz-kidz continues to change lives.  There will be more donations before Christmas!

July 2009

Give it Away is back in the property business!!  After the great success and considerable hard work and risk of building three new properties, I decided that in the current market it would be wise not to enter into any new construction projects for a while.

However……! I took a very expensive walk one day via Akehurst Street where my first 2 houses were built and saw the new St James development – Queen Mary’s Place.  Within a week I had made an offer for a two bedroom show flat and a penthouse.  The idea is to rent these properties out for the next two years and when the whole development on this site is finished, I will sell. Download a PDF here ...

St JamesI need to earn some more money for my Charities!!  So the profit on the monthly rentals will be “given away” as will the capital gain on the sale whenever that takes place.  I am still committed to giving away £1 million and I hope this venture will help! To date the total donated is £705,000!

Please have a look at the “news” and “in progress” section to see the latest properties who are earning money for Give it Away.

January 2009

The beginning of a New Year seems a good time to up-date everyone with the activities and current direction of Give it Away and to reflect on the final outcome of the house building project in Putney. I hope you will visit the rest of the web site and see the project as it unfolded together with the pictures of those who benefited.! Click here to read more ...

The Give It Away Has Begun

Give It Away

With the sale of Dolly's House finalised in November 2006, the Giving Away began! £200,000 was distributed. The very first donation Give It Away made was to Whizz-Kidz. Three children in Wandsworth, Ahmad, Millie and Amelia, are now being fitted for their new motorised, independent chairs.A further £450,000 was distributed in Spring 2007. More ...

  • To find out all about Give it Away , our aims and to meet the team, CLICK HERE ...
  • We need your help - to find out how to help us and our charities CLICK HERE ...
Update