Fundraising

How to support Bedford House

Support Bedford House, the ‘hidden gem’ in Buckhurst Hill. Bedford House is here for you. 

Our charitable object is to ‘improve quality of life through education and leisure activities’, and we therefore charge the lowest possible fees for our courses for the benefit of the local community. This means that students pay roughly 67% of the real cost of running courses, and ‘the organisation’ generates the remaining funding gap of 33% (over £90,000 every year) through other income streams such as fundraising and space hire. The Administration Team and CEO work hard to provide services to you and the local community, and to generate the ‘missing’ £90,000 required to keep Bedford House open for the benefit of the local community.  The 2023-24 budget is set to be breakeven.

We continue to be a super lean organisation with an equivalent of only 4 full time staff delivering senior management, all administration and caretaking.  All staff work part time, from as little as 12 weekly hours, with 8 people in total making up the Administration Team and management. Similarly, we have over 20 tutors, who total just 1 full time person. Bedford House continues to be open 12 hours per day often 7 days per week. We also have a team of dedicated volunteers who offer their time to Bedford House every week.

In 2023-24 we will have a focus on accessibility whether this is to access buildings or course content and beyond. More about this in future mailings.

Support your Bedford House – there are many ways to support Bedford House, several that do not cost you anything. You could:

  1. Spread the word about Bedford House and help to attract more students.

  2. Leaflet your street with BHCA leaflets.

  3. ‘Follow’ and ‘like’ Bedford House on social media.

  4. Tick the gift aid box on the membership form.

  5. Do your online shopping via the portals ‘Give as you Live’, or ‘Easy Fundraising’ at no additional cost to you, selecting Bedford House Community Association as your chosen charity.

  6. Donate unwanted arts and crafts items and art books which can then be sold in the pop-up shop or on eBay. We are also happy to accept curiosities, antiques, and paintings that we can sell on eBay. (Regrettably we cannot accept large quantities of fiction/reference books and CDs / DVDs as turnover is very low for those items and we cannot store quantities beyond the bookcases in the kitchen. Similarly, we do not accept general bric-a-brac as we cannot store items).

  7. Donate items in kind for the garden such as garden furniture in good condition, plants, seedlings, seeds, tools, planters, pots. It is a big garden, and we can most likely find a good home for your donation in kind.

  8. Purchase items from the Pop-Up stall located on the first floor.

  9. Donate left over currency from your trips abroad, or in or out of circulation UK money. Please bring these donations to the Reception area on the first floor (and ring the bell).

  10. Perform at the Open Mic at our summer and/or autumn events. 

  11. Donate whole performances and concerts. Please contact the CEO.

  12. Volunteer at Bedford House.

  13. Want to form a new fundraising group? Contact the CEO for more information and to express your interest.

  14. Join as a corporate or organisational member.

If you are able to donate money or high value items for sale for either general purposes or specific projects, we would be delighted to accept your generous offer. Change or the odd bank note (UK money only) can be put into the donation pots in the kitchen and in the Pop-up shop. Please keep foreign currency separate and hand it direct to one of the Administration Team. For larger donations please contact the CEO on office@bedfordhouse.org.uk.

Your Community Needs Your Support!

Join our volunteers

At Bedford House we have many opportunities for volunteers. If you’re looking for a friendly environment where you can make a difference, look no further! You can join us in the office as an administrator, get back to nature with our gardeners, or get practical as a maintenance volunteer. Have you got a unique skill to offer? Or are you a professional with some spare time on your hands? Send us an email to discuss how you could help and the great benefits of volunteering. Take a look at our volunteering page.

Got any other ideas? Let us know!

Thank you to all who already support Bedford House. All efforts, large and small, are hugely appreciated.

As a charity we are incredibly grateful for the amazing support we receive from our members. If you’ve got some extra time on your hands, maybe you could help us too!

DONATE TODAY!

“I'm so glad there's a place like Bedford House. These kind of community serving institutions are few and far between. It provides much needed activities to keep people active and motivated.”