Game produces a boost for equine charity Bransby Horses

Monopoly players have championed the work of an equine charity with a donation of £700.

Property professionals who took part in the 38^th Lincoln Monopoly Championship – which was sponsored by tea and coffee specialist R W Stokes and Sons and chartered surveyor Banks Long & Co – presented the proceeds of their annual game to Bransby Horses.

The welcome funding boost came just weeks after the charity faced exceptional, and unexpected, costs when it was forced to move 42 horses in January to land at Barlings, near Langworth, after its own pastureland was affected by the recent heavy flooding. More horses are due to be relocated next month.

The 2019 competition took place at The Lawn.  First round matches were played in The Blue Room, with tables kindly loaned by Ole Ole and the final was held in the Lawn Café.

Five of the six finalists were Chartered Surveyors. They included Rob Mapletoft from the Valuation Office, Jane Hiles from the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society, Sam Heathershaw from Lincolnshire Co-op’s property team, James Marshall from Kier Consulting and Lincolnshire RICS’ spokesman Andy Hey.  The sixth finalist was Jonathan Hunter, a senior project manager with the Lindum Group.

The competition was typically cut-throat, but under the calming influence of celebrity banker Malcom Thompson (Lincoln City Radio) and proving that winning at Monopoly is not all down to luck, the 2019 champion, for a record fourth time, was Andy Hey.

Bransby Horses Fundraising Manager Charlie McClelland said: “November 2019 saw us lose 40 per cent  of our land to the flooding. The impact of this has changed the way the charity looks and functions for the foreseeable future. That is why support and donations like this are overwhelming and so needed. We can’t thank you enough.”

(l-r) Amy Wright with Bracken Bransby Horses; Fundraising Manager Charlie McClelland; Banks Long & Co Director Simon Bridge, Monopoly Challenge winner Surveyor Andy Hey; R W Stokes & Sons Managing Director Nick Peel and Jess Hester with Beastie.