About the Organisation
The Deptford Ragged Trust, the charitable trust of The Bear Church, is committed to extending the legacy of creating community and alleviating poverty, isolation, inequality, hardship, distress, homelessness, and sickness by nurturing, sustaining and growing existing and new community-led projects.
Their vision is to be a “home in the heart of Deptford” where people can grow, feel safe, be creative and take responsibility for their local and global community.
Their work addresses a severe lack of community capacity in the locality. Lewisham is in the top 20% most deprived local authorities in England, and Deptford is one of the most deprived areas in the country. One in three children live in poverty in Lewisham, with more expected to fall below the poverty line and reliance on food banks increasing by 40%.
In June the redevelopment of their building reached practical completion, and 33 young people in severe housing need will be able to move into socially affordable flats for rent. Their next step is to raise funds to fit out the multi-use church and community centre with indoor and outdoor spaces for activities, and a social enterprise kitchen for training and employment.
Request details:
In order to fit-out their new multi-use community space, the Deptford Ragged Trust need to raise between £400-700k. They are starting to explore social investment/ social enterprise opportunities to help raise funds.
The charity would therefore benefit from some business expertise to scope out new opportunities their building could provide in generating revenue streams.
They are considering renting out different spaces around activities, or using one of the spaces for a longer-term lease.
Timeline
By September 2024