As we approach the festive season and the end of 2012, I wanted to write to everyone concerned with The Jubilee Hour to thank you for answering the call to action and participating in what I am reliably informed has now become the largest collective mobilisation of volunteers since World War Two.

I have also recently received the following messages from Buckingham Palace & No10 which I pass on to you, as requested and with much gratitude:

“Her Majesty is well aware of the great effort that has been applied to this and she has asked that her thanks and good wishes be passed on to all those who have so generously volunteered their time. It was the Queen’s hope that her diamond Jubilee would provide an opportunity for communities, groups and individuals to come together in a way that they would not otherwise be able to do, and there is no doubt that your initiative has made a notable contribution to achieving this ambition.”

Edward Young LVO Deputy Private Secretary to The Queen

There was a great turnout for the Re:locate charity party last night (29 November 2012), with 130 relocation professionals meeting at the fabulous Jewel Covent Garden.

HR professionals, immigration and financial experts, removals specialists, property professionals and educationalists joined in the celebrations.

As one satisfied guest put it, “What a great night yesterday was. A fantastic venue, superbly hosted, great crowd, and it launched the Gift of Time and the Christmas season in spectacular style, too.”

The party was to celebrate the contribution the relocation profession had made to  The Jubilee Hour: a gift of time – an initiative that encourages the donation of time, rather than money, to good causes. So far, the nationwide initiative has resulted in an incredible 2,748,965 hours of service.

A Gift of Time is Re:locate’s new charity initiative, launched by managing editor, Fiona Murchie at the Re:locate Charity Networking party held in London, 29^th November 2012.

Building on the momentum created by Re:locate’s involvement in the Jubilee Hour - an initiative that encouraged the donation of time rather than money in celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee year - A Gift of Time aims to encourage the relocation profession to unite behind a coordinated charity effort drawing on professional expertise from across the industry.

Re:locate led the way for the relocation industry during 2012 by spearheading Jubilee Hour initiatives including activities as diverse as sports coaching, litter picking and entire days devoted to transforming community spaces.

An enthusiastic group of children gathered at the Memorial Hall car park on Sunday morning (13 Sept 2012) in Lamberhurst to offer an hour of community service to their village. 

Armed with gloves, refuge sacks and litter-picking ‘grabbers’ generously supplied by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, the children of St Mary’s Junior Church set about gathering up sweet papers, crisp packets, empty drinks bottles and other rubbish from the corners of the playing fields, and playground area before taking on the village high street and car park.

The Jubilee Hour initiative today reached a phenomenal 1,253,030 hours pledged.

The scheme encourages people to donate time to good causes during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year, and hopes to be, “The largest mobilisation of volunteering since Wold War Two”.

Re:locate’s Martin Easton, a former British clay shooting champion, was delighted to give some free clay shooting coaching as his contribution to The Jubilee Hour.

Encouraging people to donate time rather than money, The Jubilee Hour is a popular initiative that has been inspiring people to volunteer their time for good causes in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year.

Martin gave his coaching sessions at a shooting competition organised by The Battle & District CS. Club.

With all the proceeds going to St Michael's Hospice, Hastings, the day was very well attended, with many people trying the sport for the first time.

The idea of Re:locate’s technology training afternoon, held on Friday 20 July, was to open up the advantages of technology to older people in the local community, help with technical problems, or simply allow participants to see and use some of the new devices around, including Ipads and state-of-the-art mobile phones.

Informal workshop sessions allowed people to learn about emails and websites, from online shopping to eBay and booking tickets to visit Buckingham Palace. The more internet savvy showed great interest in the benefits of an iPad, while some simply wanted to know how to download photographs more effectively.

Following the Technology Day held at the Re:locate offices on Friday 20 July 2012, we have put together a list of websites that may be of use / interest to our senior villagers.

In support of The Jubilee Hour, the initiative that encourages the donation of time rather than money in the Queen’s Jubilee year, Paragon and Re:locate gathered a group of people from the relocation industry to work on a specific community project for one day.

We reached out to a charity called Catch22, which helps young people who have tough lives and who have faced difficult situations. They may have had hard upbringings or live in challenging neighbourhoods.

Catch22 asked the relocation sector to assist them in transforming the front space of a community centre in Dagenham, East London, during their Transformation Day on Thursday 12 July.

With the celebrations of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee still fresh in our minds, now is the perfect time to get involved with Re:locate’s campaign to support nationwide charity scheme The Jubilee Hour, which helps individuals, families, communities, groups and businesses to support good causes in their area during 2012 by donating just 60 minutes of their time to voluntary service. For further information, see www.thejubileehour.org

Re:locate got behind this wonderful initiative after being approached by Jonathan Haward, of The County Homesearch Company, who invited us to help encourage the relocation profession to participate. Readers are already enthusiastically embracing projects to support The Jubilee Hour.

The Re:locate team is donating time to Streetscape, a social enterprise that transforms the lives of long-term-unemployed 18- to 25-year-olds. This worthwhile project needs a variety of types of support, many of which the global-mobility sector is ideally placed to provide – from HR and marketing expertise to manpower and fundraising. For details, see below.

We’ll also be bringing the local community into our offices and sharing some of our technology skills with older people who want to learn about the internet, send emails, and feel part of the technological age.

Get involved!

We have lots of charities that want your time, including:

• EBP Kent (www.ebpkent.co.uk) – An initiative that allows employers to develop their future workforce by assisting in schools and colleges with a range of educational schemes. Donate your time to help children with their reading
• Give Blood (www.blood.co.uk/) – This summer, extra blood donations are needed because of the London Olympics and other major international events such as the football European Championships. Visit your nearest blood bank to give blood locally
• Groundwork UK (www.groundwork.org.uk) – An environmental regeneration charity that aims to build safer and stronger communities and supports local economies to promote environmental sustainability. Donate your time by engaging in a local initiative, such as one that creates or improves a local patch of land, turning it into a garden, allotment, park, or play area
• KCFN (www.kcfn.co.uk/) – A charity delivering projects and services that make a difference to the lives of hard-to-reach and vulnerable children and young people. Donate your time by fundraising for this good cause. Why not have a bake sale, or even a sponsored silence?
• Oasis (www.oasisuk.org) – A charity that helps vulnerable children and young people by confronting injustice in practical ways. Donate your time by helping in community cafés, with skills training, or even by competing in the 10K run in London on 8 July
• One to One Children’s Fund (www.onetoonechildrensfund.org/) – A charity that relieves the suffering of child victims of poverty, disease and conflict, working with African communities to remedy and prevent the impact of HIV/AIDs and trauma. Donate your time by fundraising to support volunteering in Africa. Why not try a sponsored silence, organising a lunch in your workplace, or donating an hour’s salary?
• Streetscape (http://streetscape.org.uk/) – A social enterprise that transforms the lives of long-term-unemployed 18- to 25-year-olds by building the skills, experience and personal attributes they need to move into, and retain, work. This is done in the workplace, by teaching them landscape gardening skills. Donate your time to work with the Streetscape team on community sites, local parks and schools across London, or running fundraising events
• Suzy Lamplugh Trust (www.suzylamplugh.org/) – An organisation that raises awareness of the importance of personal safety and helps people to avoid violence and aggression. Donate your time to email campaign emails, volunteer in the London office, or help to send out leaflets

We’ll be happy to suggest projects for you to work with. Please contact Mireille Applebee by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

There is also the opportunity to donate some high-level expertise which could really make a difference. Immigration, employment-law, HR, property and removals specialists are just some of the professionals who could contribute so much to this fantastic initiative. Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Let us know about your pledges, projects and stories for the special Jubilee Hour section of our website. We have also created a unique Facebook page to showcase the global-mobility sector’s contribution, which will include photos and reports from volunteers. To keep up to date with events as they happen, visit www.facebook.com/relocatejubilee and ‘like’ us

HR Mobility Knowledge Share Conference, 24 October

As part of its support for The Jubilee Hour, Re:locate will be running a free one-day knowledge-sharing conference for HR representatives from the charity and not-for-profit sector, to be held at Knight Frank’s Baker Street offices on Wednesday 24 October.

We’ll be asking leading experts to give their hour of time to this worthwhile cause for the benefit of the charities. HR professionals from the private sector are also invited to attend without charge, to share their knowledge.

In return, those from the charitable sector will have expertise to impart about sending employees to particular countries – cost-saving measures and immigration knowledge, for example.

High-profile charities Oxfam, Save the Children and VSO have already signed up.

Places are strictly limited. If you are an HR professional and would like to join us, please reserve yours as soon as possible by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The programme for this special event will be announced on the website.

Re:locate 2012 Party, 30 November

To celebrate this great year for Britain and thank all who contribute to the relocation profession’s support of The Jubilee Hour, we will be holding a party on Friday 30 November. This will be a great way to thank your team for their efforts, to network, and to start the Christmas festivities.

If you can donate prizes for a raffle or help in any way, please contact Mireille Applebee by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or calling 01892 891334.

For more on Re:locate's drive to support The Jubilee Hour, see the Summer 2012 issue of Re:locate magazine (out late June).