The UCKG’s Peckham HelpCentre fills many roles. It’s a
- community hub
- counselling centre
- place for young people to receive direction for their lives
- caring hand and friendly voice for the elderly
- source of encouragement and healing for the sick.
In short, the Peckham HelpCentre provides essential services to the community every single day. Our support is FREE OF CHARGE, regardless of a person’s religion, race, age, gender, sexual orientation or personal circumstances.
To read more about our activities and out approach visit our site.
What will you do at the Peckham HelpCentre now you have bought the building?
Experience with hundreds of youngsters in our Youth Groups across the UK, shows that with the right approach even the most challenging young people can change for the better.
As Peckham is infamous for crime, guns and gangs, we want to tackle the problem head-on by offering youths an alternative to street life.
The HelpCentre approach - young people reaching young people - is very successful. Our youth workers connect with youngsters, understanding their mindsets and the peer pressures on youths today.
We decided to open a brand new, fully equipped Youth Centre. We’ll focus on training, academic excellence, and life skills, so the project will put young men and women of Peckham in the headlines for the right reasons.
The Youth Centre will offer
- IT courses such as CLAIT (Computer Literacy and Information Technology)
- mentoring services
- career guidance
- leisure space
For this to happen the HelpCentre had to remain open. Now that we own the building, our task is to raise the funds to refurbish it and create the new Youth Centre. We can’t do it without you. Please consider supporting our ongoing appeal and make a donation securely online now.
Why did you have to buy the building?
The 10-year lease had come to an end and the landlord, a property investor, wanted to redevelop the property with shops and flats above. Our options were to find alternative premises, accept a much smaller space within the new development for an unacceptably high rent, or buy the property.
After lengthy consultations with our lawyers and property consultants, we concluded that buying the property was the best option for us.
Why did you raise funds instead of getting a loan?
We did not expect to have to buy this building at the end of the lease and had not budgeted for such a purchase. However we managed to put down a £180,000 deposit for the purchase price of £1.8m - leaving a balance to pay of £1.6m.
A bank loan was not an option because we are already repaying mortgages on two other HelpCentres. It would not have been prudent to take out another loan, even we had been offered one. We have to protect the financial stability of the church; and so fund raising - through our Ben Nevis challenge - was the only way.
