Homelessness social entrepreneur John Bird MBE, founder of street magazine, The Big Issue, will be the key note speaker at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) West Midlands property dinner 2018.

The annual event is one of the organisation’s flagship events in the region, attracting over 350 guests from West Midland’s wider property industry – including architects, surveyors and contractors - and giving them an ideal opportunity to meet new valuable contacts, whilst celebrating their achievements with colleagues.

John – who is a Crossbencher in the House of Lords, is seeking to dismantle the root causes of poverty in the UK - will entertain guests with inspiring tales of his past and how he became a leader of social change despite being born into poverty and becoming homeless at the age of five, residing in an orphanage between the ages of seven and ten. His after-dinner speeches are known for not only being rousing and moving, but thanks to his personal insights and wonderful personality, hugely entertaining.

Lord Bird MBE, founder of The Big Issue commented:

“This year, RICS celebrates its sesquicentennial anniversary. As part of the celebrations, it has joined forces with property industry charity, LandAid to launch a campaign - known as Pledge150 - that will deliver more bed spaces for homeless people in the region. As a long-time activist for social change, I'm delighted to be part of this year's RICS dinner, which is set to raise more awareness of this brilliant initiative.

He adds: “Homelessness in the UK is in a state of emergency. From housing, rough-sleeping and the 'hidden' homelessness, the whole system needs rethinking. For too long, governments have wasted time, energy and money dealing with the emergency symptoms of poverty, rather than working to prevent its root causes.

“At The Big Issue Group, we've long championed the need to invest in poverty prevention mechanisms to stop homelessness getting worse. I'm looking forward to speaking about this at the dinner, where my call to arms to the wider property industry will be the chance to converge our efforts and help end homelessness for good.”

Lynn Robinson, RICS Regional Director commented on the announcement:

“John has long had an amazing career campaigning for a better life and options for homeless communities worldwide. Therefore, we’re very excited to have him speak at our annual dinner, and encourage firms in the property industry to support our Pledge150 campaign, which will see us raising £2.25 million by December 2018 for LandAid. This money, in part, will be used to fund the creation of bed spaces for young people at risk of homelessness, across the region.

“RICS’ Royal Charter means we have a responsibility to act in the public interest and we look to use that as a force for good. Since our Pledge150 launch, we’ve had many property firms across the region get on board and plan Pledge150 fundraising events, which is fantastic. We’re hoping that we raise a significant sum at our annual dinner too, which will go towards making a real positive change to young vulnerable people’s lives.”

The RICS Dinner, West Midlands is set to take place at Resort’s World, The Vox on Friday 2 March. Tickets for the event are still available. For more information please contact Abi Reed on areed@rics.org or 0121 643 0105.

For more information on the RICS Pledge150 campaign – including the tools available to get you started - from brochures and posters along with suggestions of fundraising activities – visit www.rics.org/pledge150