It started with a mad idea in Kettering and ended with a massive puzzle as the Ellandi centre managers descended to London, jigsaw pieces in hand. 

Community shopping centre investor Ellandi, is the second major industry player after F & C REIT to join the One Great Day charity campaign, a move that both hope is the first step to it becoming established as THE shopping centre industry charity event.  

One Great Day was established by Zvi and Michal Noe in 2014 to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital in conjunction with children’s charities across the UK local to each shopping centre taking part. 

Each of the 21 shopping centres in the Ellandi portfolio were sent a puzzle piece, with the challenge to raise as much money as possible and to get the centres piece of the puzzle to London within 24 hours. The challenge culminated at the Geological Society on the 2nd July where Ellandi was holding it’s 4th Annual Retail Rocks Conference. 

The afternoon kicked off to a flying start with 3 pieces through the door before the most guests had arrived. Amazingly, the remaining pieces arrived within the next hour with the puzzle completed by before the conference kicked off. 

Centre managers worked together to ensure that those who were unable to make it to London got their pieces to the nearest centre and used social media to tweet photos of their puzzle pieces along the journey using the hastags #OneGreatDay and #MyGreatDay. 

Property Director Mark Robinson commented “One Great Day is an amazing idea that could bring the industry together nationally in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital whilst empowering centre managers affiliate to themselves with a local charity. 

“Ellandi’s participation alone has raised over £21,000 to date, this will no doubt grow every year and will hopefully be multiplied many times over as other shopping centre groups join in.”