A Playtower for the community — by the community

Aim

A Playtower for the community — by the community. Community owned. For good.

We are in the final stretch, but we need your help to win the bid! 

RUSS’ proposal to restore the Ladywell Playtower has been shortlisted by Lewisham Council!  We have until the 2nd of October to submit the final bid.  

📸 Architects model: an aerial view of the refurbished site © RUSS 

The development of the final bid is costing £40,000.  We’ve raised £30,000 already from partners and a grant from the Architectural Heritage Fund.  But it’s going to be down to the community to raise the final £10,000.    

A generous group of donors have pledged a £5,000 challenge fund, which means that every £1 you donate will be matched by another £1.  With Gift-Aid, that means every £1 you donate is actually worth £2.50 to us.   

We’re not big developers with big development budgets.  We are a professional social enterprise committed to The Playtower becoming a permanent community asset - owned by the community, managed for the community and protected for future generations - and we need your help to make this happen. 

A PROPOSAL BY AND FOR THE COMMUNITY

📸 We ran four spring engagement sessions to ask the local public what they wanted. 

As you’ll see from the designs below, RUSS’s proposal reflects what the community told us they wanted during our consultation sessions back in February 2026.  The Playtower site will bring together affordable homes and creative studios, a nursery, cafe, community spaces, live events, health and wellbeing facilities, gardens and public space.  

📸 Site map tracks the existing conditions and treasures on the site; the Playtower, the trees and the open spaces.  © RUSS

We want to transform the Ladywell Playtower into a community-owned civic campus designed around the conditions for human flourishing.  By human flourishing, we mean the everyday conditions people need to live well: secure homes, meaningful relationships, creativity, health, purpose, belonging and access to nature.  

Those conditions can no longer be taken for granted. Too many of the places and systems that shape modern life leave people isolated from one another, with too few opportunities to connect across generations, participate in community life or feel that they belong. The proposal we’ve developed together as a community addresses this problem by intentionally designing in opportunities for people of different backgrounds and ages to meet, participate and thrive together. 

A SERIOUS PROPOSAL. STRONG PARTNERS. AN EXPERIENCED TEAM.

RUSS has brought together an experienced consortium spanning housing, early years, social enterprise, culture, health and wellbeing. Our partners include London Early Years Foundation (LEYF), St Mary the Virgin Church, Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency (GCDA) and Community Sauna Baths CIC amongst others, who all stand out for their innovation and strong delivery as well as their local connection and/or community driven ethos.  We are supported by an experienced professional team across architecture, planning, heritage, sustainability, social enterprise, finance and fundraising. 

COMMUNITY OWNED. FOR GOOD.

RUSS (Rural Urban Synthesis Society) is the Community Land Trust behind 12 Church Grove, London's largest Community Land Trust housing development, which delivered 36 permanently affordable homes in Lewisham. Building on that success, RUSS is now applying the same principles of long-term community ownership to one of Lewisham's most important heritage buildings.  

None of this can happen if we can’t raise the final money we need to finish the bid. All donors will have the option of having their gift acknowledged on the site – regardless of whether you give £5 or £5,000.  

Please note that our donation is to help fund the development of our final-round bid to Lewisham Council.  We will not be able to refund your donation in the event that our bid is not successful. 

This is the community’s bid to save our Playtower.  Please give generously and help make it happen.  

Thank you! 

Upcoming events and ways to keep in touch: 

Join us at Open House on September 19th 

Come and meet our community! We will be running tours of 12 Church Grove, alongside a display of our initial design and consultation panels for the Ladywell Playtower. 

🎥 Video by Flo Williams [email protected]

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 5th October 2026 at 12:00pm