How to get involved in a life-changing development project

0:01Hey everyone, it's Rob B here with Rob Dix and today we're doing something very, very different. We are going to build something again and you're going to build it with us. Have we lost our mind? I promise you we have not. This is the most important build we've ever done on The Property Podcast and you are going to come on this journey with us.

0:27welcome to the property podcast thank you for joining us in case you don't know we run a business that buys more than 100 million pounds worth of property every year for our clients you can find out about that at propertyhub.net invest but like rob said today we are doing something a bit different something very special what is it well you'll have to stick around to find out but i'll tell you this there are prizes to be won before we reveal what we're going to talk about in this incredible podcast and I promise you this is a truly incredible episode. It's going to be life-changing for thousands and thousands of people.

0:59You might think I'm overdoing this, I'm not. But before we get there, we've surveyed thousands of people. Every quarter we survey our incredible community via Property Pulse. If you're not subscribed to Property Pulse yet, go to propertyhub.net forward slash pulse and we put questions to you every quarter to understand where you're at with the property market, how you're feeling. And Rob, the latest results are in. Yep, they are. And the headline is everyone's become a little bit more negative. So in the first quarter, literally nobody, 0 % expected prices to decrease. Now that is up to 5.3%. So still very low.

1:35And the number of people planning to sell properties is edged up very slightly from 18.9 % to 19.4%. On the whole though, sentiment is strong. More than half of the people surveyed plan to buy more property in the next 12 months. And something that jumped out from this data, Rob, because we always ask where people are from and where they invest, is the North-South divide. This is something that comes up in so much of the data that we discuss in the monthly market update, for example. But again, people who are investing in the North, strong demand and growing prices, but it's those in the Southeast who are feeling the most negative, where sentiment is the weakest.

2:11So the data from our audience very much backing up these big themes that we've talked about. So the message at the moment seems to be where you invest is incredibly important and it will determine the experience that you have as an investor. Which is something we've been banging on about for a long time on the Property Podcast. And what's encouraging to hear is yes, of course, the sentiment is down a little. And come on, we're only human. And with everything going on, you'd expect a little bit of that. But if you've heard this to just the general public, I think the ambition of the property hub community, of the people surveyed here, is a lot stronger, a lot more resilient.

2:47And a lot of the noise is being blocked out by them because they're still progressing with their plans. They're still pushing on and that's really encouraging to see. Because while sentiment and the noise around the market and even the wider economy might not be great, the actual underlying data of what's happening out there is fairly neutral. The market isn't collapsing both on a property market level and an economy level. The market's just kind of ticking along, doing nothing at all. It's an absolute non-story in terms of performance. But that, as we've talked about so many times, creates opportunity.

3:23And that's fantastic that there are so many people planning to take advantage of that opportunity. So a really interesting set of results, Rob, because I wanted to understand whether the negative sentiment in the wider media was impacting our audience. and it doesn't seem it is, in a big way at least. So well done to you, well done to those still active and well done to those sharp individuals like getting way ahead and picking out the strongest areas and focusing on the strongest areas to enhance your returns. It's really pleasing to see. Now, we said earlier, this is going to be a special episode and we were doing something we'd never done before.

3:57And you're about to find out what that is. And you need to stick around all the way to the end because there is something big in it for you as well. But there's something even bigger behind all this. Because think of all the things that you need to do today in your life. Well, whatever you're doing, however annoying it is, maybe you've got to pop down to the shop and pick something up. Well, in rural Kenya, families have to walk for hours every day just to collect water. And not even clean water, not even safe water, just any water that they can find from a distant riverbed or a shallow hole in the ground.

4:27Now, imagine that they didn't have to do that anymore. Imagine that there is one simple structure that's built just where it's needed that gives the entire community access to clean water for decades. It doesn't need any drilling, doesn't require any power, doesn't cause any pollution. It just produces clean, safe water stored naturally under sand. Well, this structure is real. It's called a sand dam and it works. So this summer, we are doing something different, something big. We are teaming up with you, our incredible audience, to build a sand dam together. Yes, you heard right. we are going to do a construction project together you'll be pleased to know that it is going to be handled by experts it's going to be handled by the team at sandams worldwide and they are going to build it we're going to fund it and some of you will even go and see it more on that in a moment but this is real this is something that we've never done before on the podcast we have privately donated significant sums to many charities in the past and we are changing our attitude on charity because we thought that we were doing the right thing by not talking about our donations and talking about the things that we do and we've got that wrong and we're not doing it for plaudits now that's the reason we didn't do it we just wanted to privately make our donations make a difference and move on but we've realized we were doing a disservice to these incredible charities that we work with because you, the audience, are probably going to love what we do.

5:55And if we work together, we can do even more. So like Rob said, we're teaming up with you and we want to build outright between us, you and I, a sand dam, a sand dam, a purpose-built sand dam in Kenya. And to build this huge structure, this life-changing structure, we need to raise£39 ,000. and you can donate by going to propertyhub.net forward slash water but here's the great part we've touched on that we donate so everything that you put in we're going to match fund so we're going to race to that 39 000 because we know how many of you there are out there listening to this and we know that you are going to get behind this project and make a life-changing impact to so many people so if you donate 50 pounds we'll match it and turn it into 100 pounds If you give£250, boom, it becomes£500, going straight towards clean, life-changing water.

6:53So together, we are going to get this target smashed. We are going to get to that£39 ,000 as quickly as possible. So please go to propertyhub.net forward slash water. And it's amazing if you're already racing over there to donate. But if you're not quite convinced, we've got some amazing gifts, some amazing giveaways, and some amazing stories to share with you. So why will this have so much impact? And what even is a sand dam? If you haven't heard of sand dams before, well, a few weeks ago, nor had I. But all it takes is a minute to understand what it is and you realise just how brilliant and how powerful this simple innovation is.

7:25So you know what a dam is? Essentially a reinforced concrete wall built across a river. And in Kenya and large parts of Africa, the rivers are seasonal. There are dry seasons and then there are periods of short, intense rains. So with a sand dam, when the rains come, they bring obviously a surge of water but with that water is also carried sand and silt so the water hits the wall of the dam and eventually passes on beyond it but what it leaves behind is the sand the heavier sand settles behind the dam so over time the dam fills up layer by layer with sand what's the point of that you haven't actually trapped the water well actually you have that's the really genius part because between the grains of sand water gets trapped it's clean water trapped there in the sand protected underground so it doesn't evaporate and it can't become contaminated.

8:15And we're not just talking about a bit of water here. It's incredible. Each dam built with the support of sand dams worldwide in partnership with local communities can store up to 40 million litres of water, which is enough to provide a village with clean water all year round. This is what I found incredible. This is so simple, but what it does is it means that this water that otherwise just passes through in a very short intense period you're harnessing that you're trapping it securely and you can use it all year round it's absolutely unbelievable it is and when we say a village we're not talking about 50 people like a tiny gathering of people we're talking about thousands upon thousands of people it changes the lives of that many people in one go and people move closer to these sand dams as well they build irrigation systems out of them they build pumps up to nearby villages that's been done as well wasn't first intended for that use but since these sand dams have been built now and they've seen the impact it's incredible to see what happens and the changes that are made by these sand dams the landscape transforms from this dry arid area to an area that's suddenly green and with vegetation it's landscape changing so it's not just life changing for these people but it's landscape changing as well it's truly incredible.

9:32This technology is actually thousands of years old. It's just been brought up to modern day standards, built in an industrial scale, and it makes a massive, massive difference. Rob wasn't alone in not knowing where Sandham was. Before I started getting involved with a charity, I didn't know either. And that's something we're trying to change as well on the podcast, because once you understand what this technology does, it's like, why aren't they everywhere across Africa. Why aren't they there? Because they should be, because they make such an incredible difference and last decade after decade.

10:05It's truly inspirational. It's amazing what happens. Now we've got more to come on the pod. I want to give you a bit more information but I want to do two things now. One, I want to remind you of that link. Please go to propertyhub.net forward slash water, make a donation and we will match it. But we also want to reward you and we want to say thank thank you for that donation. It's a little gift from us. This doesn't come out the fund. It's just us topping it up. So we'll match fund, but we'll also give some gifts as well. For every person who donates£100 or more. So if you put£100 in, we will match it, put another£100 in.

10:39That's great. But what we'll also give you, and to some of you, this might be more than the extra£100 we donate. We give you a Property Hub mug. That is special. Some people probably fallen over on the train and the bus hearing this news. So worth it. They are rare. We don't give these out. People ask for them all the time. We don't sell them. We occasionally give them away. There's only a few of them in the wild. Well, we will give everybody who donates£100 or more, once the campaign's finished, a Property Hub mug. We will send that to you, you lucky, lucky people. So if you've got a sort of target in mind or you don't know how much to give, get yourself up to£100.

11:14We'll make it another£100 and you'll get yourself that coveted Property Hub mug, which one day may be a collector's item if it isn't already. Now, for the first eight people, so we can't do this for everyone, but for the first eight who donate£1 ,000 or more, we will match it, of course, and put another thousand in, but we'll also invite you to a private dinner with Rob and I. it'll be in London we'll confirm the date once it's all finished but for the first eight who donate a thousand pounds or more you will join Rob and I for a dinner in London where we can cover all types of topics we can talk charity we can talk business we can talk property we can talk personal development wherever you want to talk about we will be there we will share dinner together we will have an incredible evening both of us will be in attendance and that's for the first eight people who donate a thousand pounds or more what a difference you're going to make to the charity as well by donating that amount because you're going to get at least two thousand in if you go above a thousand then amazing and if you do go higher up if you donate two thousand five hundred pounds or more we'll add another two thousand five hundred that takes you to five thousand for anybody who donates that amount or more sand dams will invite you to come on an expedition to Kenya where you will see this sand dam being built we will also build a sand dam maybe that one maybe another but you'll get the idea of the build you'll be rolling your sleeves up getting involved don't worry it's not too taxing I'll be there as well I'll be involved in this expedition it's going to be an incredible trip to Kenya if you put 2 ,500 or more in you will be invited so it's not the first date it's just if you hit that number you'll get your mug if you're one of the first date, you'll get the dinner.

12:59But if you do that amount, you'll also get the chance to come to Kenya. The dates will be shared in the very near future. You'll have months in advance to work your schedule and hopefully get there. You have to pay the basic costs. It's not a lot of money at all. It's not about today and infancy accommodation, as you can imagine. But we will be there together. You'll be there with other incredible people as well. And you will get to go around Kenya, see the impact it's making, see the lives that you are changing. And that's what this is all about. I thought we'd peaked with the mugs Rob then you threw in the trip to Kenya.

13:31You can't do any better than the mug but that sounds absolutely spectacular. So obviously you can donate any amount you want. Everything is appreciated and we will be matching whatever you donate but those levels unlock a little bit more. So remember you can do that at propertyhub.net slash water. Now hopefully you've already made a donation but I just wanted to share a few real stories because sometimes it's hard right you go okay well we're changing the lives of thousands of people but it feels abstract it doesn't feel real so what I wanted to do is just quickly share some real stories with you just to get across the impact you're making by making this donation so let's take Stella Stella before the sand dam used to wake up every morning facing uncertainty she and her three children she's widow had to walk across the plains of Kenya which is a dangerous journey for those women to get to a water source and that water source was murky pools of water which was several kilometers away and they'd walk for two to three hours a day to fetch this water remember they've got it's not just a walk itself you've got to carry that water back sometimes they had to go twice a day because there wasn't enough water there for their needs and they'd get that water to drink and to feed some basic crops crops to feed that small family and she said we'd watch crops die days after planting them sometimes, which is just unfathomable really to think about it.

14:55The effort they're putting in to give themselves a bit of food and then watch those crops die in front of them because there still wasn't enough water. That's now stopped. That's changed. Her children no longer walk every day for hours to go and get that water. She has thriving crops. Why? Because a sand dam has been built. Take Rhoda. Rhoda now lives in a village near a sand dam but before that sand dam daily life centered around one goal finding water her children couldn't go to school on time because they had to help it wasn't like an optional thing water's not optional you need it every day so they'd wake up before sunrise carry the jerry cans walk miles to reach a shallow scoop hole in the dry riverbed and the water was silty and often contaminated sometimes they would boil it but there sometimes wasn't enough fuel to do that so they just had to drink what they had.

15:48Things like washing clothes was a luxury, so was bathing. So the children went to school with dirty clothes, unwashed, sometimes unfed, late every day just to go and get that water. That doesn't happen anymore because a sand down was built. Or Sabine, a mother and a farmer. She would start her day at 4am every day. She'd first load a donkey with empty containers, walk several kilometres in scorching heat or bitter cold to find water for her, her family and her livestock. She said, I used to cry silently when I got home just because I had to care for my children, the house, the animals, all on little sleep and no rest because that 4am start wasn't once a week, wasn't part of some productivity routine, that was to survive.

16:37And during the dry season, those circumstances got worse, but a sand down changed that. Now, unfortunately, there's many other stories that are still being lived out today, where the happy ending hasn't happened yet, and the change of life hasn't happened yet. And this one sand dam isn't going to fix all of that. It's not even going to get close. But it's a start. You're going to change lives of not a handful of people, not hundreds of people, but thousands of people. Yeah, you'll get a bug. You can even come for dinner with Rob and I. But the biggest gift you will get is knowing that the donation you're making right now, or about to make, is going to seriously change lives.

17:18And I hope this small example I've given you will help you realise that sometimes money is more than money, and sometimes the way we implement it for ourselves is incredibly important, but for others can be truly life-changing. And that's why we got behind this charity, because it's not just money that goes in and disappears, and you wonder what's happened, you know what's going to happen. You know what change it's going to make. And we're going to share the journey of this sand down with you. So this won't be the last you hear of it. We're going to talk about it at regular points to tell you how the progression of the build is going.

17:52We'll share it on our socials as well. This isn't just a one-off donation that you feel good today and then wonder what happened. We're going to keep you informed. so please go to propertyhub.net forward slash water and make a truly life-changing difference with your donation and once you've made it we'll match it yeah like you said rob i think the amazing thing about this is that it is so tangible like the reason that we're raising 39 000 pounds is you know that that is how much it costs to build a sand dam so we will raise that money and then it will get built and i mentioned it in passing earlier but for me this is one of the most amazing things about it.

18:27Once it's built, once you've invested that money, any upkeep has no running costs and it's there for years and years and years. And that's so powerful as well because you often see things that are very well-intentioned, they'll go and put something in, but then it needs upkeep every year. And who's there to do that? Where does the money come from? But this, you do it once and it's done. It's making a difference forever and it's making a difference to something so fundamental. And I think it came across in those stories that you told, Rob, that we talked on the podcast before about the ripple effect when it comes to property but the ripple effect from having clean water and not having to walk hours per day to get it it affects every areas of these communities lives affects the ability to educate their children absolutely everything so if you're looking to put money into something that's going to directly and definitively improve lives for the better this for me seems like such an incredibly efficient and powerful way of doing that so go to propertyhub.net forward slash water and make that difference but make sure you listen to AOB tomorrow this is related not just going on a weird tangent because tomorrow on AOB we have a special guest our first ever interview on AOB and it is a business story a business story with a twist Sarah was one of the co-founders of Little Kickers if you are not familiar with Little Kickers.

19:38It started on a park in London and went on to become a global franchise. It's an incredible business story but where the twist is Sarah is on a board of trustees of Sandhams as well. So a large part of that interview is that business story so you're going to learn from that. It's going to be really inspiring and entertaining but also you get to hear about how and why she got involved with the charity as well both parts of the story are incredible it's a must listen that's out tomorrow that's AOB so check out that episode and that along with the link is our hub extra as well so the AOB tomorrow and propertyhub.net forward slash water we will update you next week with how it's going hopefully we've got incredible news to share we're also going to be doing lots of updates on our social channels as well so you can follow along there to see how things are going Hopefully we are bringing back news that together we are building a sand dam and thousands of lives are being changed.

20:38Please get behind this. We don't often ask for things on this podcast. It's very rare. We just like to give. And we want to give to this charity, but with you. So please go to propertyhub.net forward slash water. You will have our gratitude. And if you donate enough, something even more valuable, a Property Hub mug. Oh, yes, yes. Cheers, everyone. Enjoy AOB tomorrow. Normal business will resume next week on the Property Podcast, but I appreciate you sticking with us this long, hearing these stories and making a difference. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.