[U]lverston estate agent Janice Lyle has brought a new twist to an old saying to help Bay Hospitals Charity’s Bayb’s Maternity Appeal and show her pride in her local roots!
For Janice, also known as Jan and by her married name of Hannah, has taken the adage “Charity begins at Home” not only to heart but also to work.
With a slight amendment, Jan has reworded the saying to “Charity begins at Homes” and has added it as a strapline to her JH Homes company literature with the promise of a generous donation to the Bayb’s appeal for every house sale that goes to completion.
Jan, who will gift to the appeal for the remainder of its lifespan, said: “I’m a local girl, born and bred, and I’m very proud of my roots. I’m also a mum. My daughter Abbi is now 13-years-old.
“I have been an estate agent all my working life and so a lot of what I do is about family from helping families find the right home to looking after Abbi so the Bayb’s Maternity Appeal really touched a chord. It seems a natural choice of charity for me to support as its aim is to give local families the best start to family life by helping provide for the best care for parents and their newborns.”
Heidi Bowron, Bayb’s Maternity Appeal co-ordinator, said: “We are extremely grateful to Jan for launching her ‘Charity begins at Homes’ initiative. It’s a very generous and kind thing to do. Through it, Jan is giving back to the community in which she works, which says a lot about her and her business.”
Jan and her six-strong team are based in New Market Street and work not just in Ulverston but also throughout area and as well as sell homes, they also let them. This year, her business, which she launched four years ago, has received two prestigious awards – the British Property Federation’s industry Gold Award as Ulverston’s premier estate agency and its Silver Award for being placed second out of 136 other estate agencies in Cumbria as a whole.
Jan’s latest company recruit is her husband Karl, who has just joined the business to work as an energy assessor after retiring from the British Army following 22 years as a serving soldier.
The Bayb’s Maternity Appeal launched in February as a year-long appeal. It now stands at almost £160,000 towards its £250,000 target. Bayb’s is funding “extras” for the new maternity unit being built at Furness General Hospital. These ”extras” fall outside the remit of what the NHS is able to fund but have been added to a shopping list of items, all designed to make the unit second to none in the country while giving it a real home from home feel for local families and for newborns, the best possible start in life.
To find out more about the appeal, visit Bay Hospitals Charity’s website at www.bayhospitalscharity.org