A philanthropist has made £1m for charity through building and selling property.

Charlotte Grobien, 59, of Putney, sold three cottages in Woking for £220,000 for her charity Give It Away, to reach her £1m target.

She has already donated £825,000 by building three houses from scratch and renting out apartments in Roehampton.

The former events organiser and property developer donates 100 per cent of the profits to charities which help young children, including Small Steps in Putney, Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Polka Theatre.

It has taken 15 months to close in on her £1m target, with Mrs Grobien overseeing everything from start to finish.

The money will allow disabled nursery school Small Steps to hire another therapist and take on more children.

Mrs Grobien said: "It is very hard work, I'm a one woman band.

"I'm working the best part of three months, we never know what price your are going to end up at, you can't know that.

"There are also a number of local suppliers who have again helped me with the building process and thereby increased my bottom line."

She was first given the idea to set up Give it Away after she added an extra floor to her home in Putney, and watching property development programmes on television.

Work began in 2003 when she bought three plots of land for more than £1m, which was largely borrowed from the bank.

In the new year she plans to take on renovation projects in the borough in a bid to raise more money.