LONDON, October 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

• Announcements Made at 2015 CRASH Awards to Honour Patrons  

CRASH, the construction and property industry's charity for homeless people, has announced several exciting developments as it prepares to celebrate its 20^th anniversary in 2016. In November, Ian Tyler will be stepping down after 10 eventful years as Chairman of CRASH to focus on his duties as Chairman of Bovis Homes PLC, amongst other commitments. He will be succeeded by Alan Brookes, Chief Executive of Arcadis UK, whose thirty-year career has seen extensive management experience in the UK and Asia.

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A veteran business leader, Alan joined EC Harris through the acquisition of Povall Flood Wilson in 2000. From 2004, he served as Regional Managing Partner for the UK division, including 19 offices outside London, and also ran ECH's Asian business from Hong Kong, returning to the UK in 2013. He has been the Chief Executive Officer of Arcadis UK since January 2014 and led the combined Hyder Arcadis team of 3,900 UK employees.

Along with his fellow Trustees, Alan has played a key role in the pivotal decision to expand the charity's beneficiary base to include hospices, enabling CRASH to support even more vulnerable people.  

Hospices now part of the CRASH Beneficiary Base 

From January 2016, CRASH can provide the 200 adult hospices and 40 children's hospices in the UK with professional expertise, products and grants. Broadening the beneficiary base in this way means that CRASH can add value to the fundraising of patrons who already support hospices with tangible donations of professional expertise and building materials. By improving the built environments in which these vital services are provided, CRASH will enhance the quality of support provided to people facing life-limiting illness, their families and the staff who care for them.

2015 CRASH Patron Awards 

To honour its patrons' unwavering generosity and loyalty, CRASH held its annual 'Above and Beyond' awards reception on the 30^th September, hosted by UBM at their head office. The ceremony gathered together an illustrious gallery of big names from the world of construction and design, who have all given their valuable time and resources to support the CRASH cause. To see what CRASH and our Patrons have achieved in the past year, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyezBZ3vMkw.

Attendees heard inspiring words from a variety of speakers, including CRASH Chief Executive Francesca Roberts and representatives from homelessness charities that have received support.

Patrons Network Rail and Areen Design received trophies for providing the greatest value or professional expertise and materials, respectively, whilst EC Harris LLP was recognised as the top fundraiser. The CRASH Tony Denison Award for Outstanding Contribution to Helping Homeless People was given to Cliff and Rose Ackenclose for their superb work at St Vincent de Paul New Bridge Project in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Medals were awarded to Emily Boyd, of Argent LLP, who valiantly ran in this year's London Marathon and Owen Sisk for his Cape Point and Robben Island Swim. Emily and Owen raised a phenomenal combined figure of over £9,000 for CRASH.

The awards crowned a highly productive year for the charity, with work on over 60 projects, including the Pilsdon Community, Emmaus Brighton & Hove and the No Limits Drop-in Centre in Southampton. With many more collaborative projects in the pipeline for 2016, CRASH enters its 20^th anniversary year with a firm sense of purpose and a new chairman at the helm.

Addressing the reception, Francesca Roberts said:

"Thank you for the tremendous loyalty and generosity that you have shown to CRASH which has enabled the charity to achieve so much over the last 20 years. Your support as Patron companies of CRASH will continue to underpin our future work to create places that care for people who are homeless or have life-limiting illnesses."  

About CRASH 

CRASH is the construction and property industry's charity.  We are a practical charity that channels the expertise, products and generosity of the industry to create places that care for people in homelessness projects and hospices.

CRASH is unique in the way we create, renovate and construct caring environments for vulnerable people by:

• Offering pro bono professional expertise
• Sourcing building materials and the technical knowledge to use them
• Awarding cash grants

Well-designed and expertly built environments have a positive effect on how we all feel and behave.  This is especially true for homeless, vulnerable or sick people and those who care for them.

http://www.crash.org.uk

Follow CRASH on Twitter: @CRASHcharity

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Pictures accompanying this release are available through the PA Photowire. They can be downloaded from http://www.pa-mediapoint.press.net or viewed at http://www.mediapoint.press.net or http://www.prnewswire.co.uk.

For Media Enquiries, please contact: Emma Brophy, Communications Manager, ebrophy@crash.org.uk +44-(0)208-742-0717 

SOURCE CRASH