Custom House and Canning Town Community Renewal Project

What Custom House and Canning Town Community Renewal Project does

Custom House and Canning Town Community Renewal Project (CH&CTCRP) is a charitable company limited by guarantee established in 1994 and headquartered in the refurbished, listed St. Luke's Church building at 89 Tarling Road, Canning Town, London E16 1HN. It is governed by 9 trustees (also directors) and operated by a small paid staff team led by General Manager John McNeill, with charitable objects covering relief of poverty, advancement of education, environmental protection, and recreation in the interest of social welfare for residents of Custom House and Canning Town in the London Borough of Newham.

The charity operates a hybrid model combining a commercial property platform with a portfolio of community services. Its core commercial engine is the letting of 4 floors of office space within St. Luke's alongside a separately tenanted modern nursery (The Abrahams Nursery, 2002) and a community hall/function room hired at £25/hr (children's parties) and £50/hr (private functions) plus VAT. Community programmes delivered from the building include the St. Luke's Youth Club (Thursdays), the AAA Club for children with special needs (Wednesdays), the SLO'50 Over 50s Club (Fridays, launched March 2019), veterans/remembrance services, and the Parkside Gardening Project for adults with mental health difficulties.

Revenue is generated primarily through annual office subscriptions from approximately 16 named small-business and charity tenants (solicitors, a health centre, accountants, community groups, political offices, and cultural organisations), supplemented by hourly function-room hires and occasional grants. The charity became self-sustaining after a £2.25 million 1998 Heritage Lottery- and European-grant-funded refurbishment, though it has ceased acting as Local Trusted Organisation for the £1 million Big Local PEACH programme, which transitioned to an independent body in June 2020. There is no proprietary technology stack; service delivery is physical and human-mediated, with a basic WordPress site and a single Facebook page representing the digital footprint.

Name

Custom House and Canning Town Community Renewal Project

Legal name

Custom House and Canning Town Community Renewal Project

Website

https://chctcrp.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Short description

CH&CTCRP is a 1994-founded charitable company limited by guarantee that owns and lets the refurbished St. Luke's Church in Canning Town, using rental income from office tenants and hall hire to fund community programmes (youth clubs, Over 50s Club, Parkside Gardening Project, remembrance services) for local residents.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Services

SIC

Services-To Dwellings & Other Buildings (7340)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Development & Neighborhood Revitalization (CDBG, Place-Based Initiatives) (BPAIANAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Urban Renewal, Brownfield Redevelopment & Land Reuse (BPAIANAI)

Keywords

• Community charity services
• Office space lettings
• Community hall hire
• Community development programs
• Social welfare support

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Office Space Lettings: Rent from offices in St. Luke's building and the Abrahams nursery building makes the charity self-sustaining and provides regular income for charitable activities. The charity owns and manages 4 floors of spacious offices and amenities in the refurbished St. Luke's Church building.
2. Hall and Function Room Hire: Community hall available for hire by the hour for children's parties, private functions, and conferences. Additional capacity available through café seating area.
3. Office Unit Rentals: Currently available offices include Unit 7 (477 sq ft / 40 sq meters) on 2nd floor and Unit 8 (324 sq ft / 30 sq meters) on 3rd floor.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Custom House and Canning Town Community Renewal Project is a UK charity that rents out office space and function rooms in the refurbished St. Luke's Church building in Canning Town, London, using the rental income to fund community programs including a youth club, an over 50s club, the Parkside Gardening Project for adults with mental health needs, veterans remembrance activities, and a community garden.

Product overview

CH&CTCRP is a charity established in 1994 offering a portfolio of community services from St. Luke's Church building in Canning Town. Core offerings include commercial office space lettings in a historic listed building with 4 floors of offices and a function hall for hire. Community services comprise youth clubs (St. Luke's Youth Club and AAA Club for special needs), SLO'50 Over 50s Club, Parkside Gardening Project for adults with mental health needs, veterans remembrance services, and community garden facilities. The charity also provides capacity building support to community groups. Revenue from office rents sustains the charity's self-sufficiency and funds charitable activities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Parkside Gardening Project: Community gardening project for adults with mental health needs, using gardening and food growing to support good physical and mental wellbeing
• New St. Luke's Youth Club
• AAA Club
• SLO'50

Products and services

• Office Space Lettings (St. Luke's)

Quantifiable outcome

• Self-sustaining charity through rental income - no ongoing grant dependency
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and major.

• BikeworksminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021During summer 2021, Bikeworks took Over 50s Club members on side-by-side bikes for rides around the estate and up to Morrisons for shopping, providing recreational activities for elderly members.
• Lloyds of LondonminorOthers · 1 March 2020During COVID-19, Lloyds of London delivered 50 prepared meals every week for the charity to distribute to the community as part of food relief efforts.
• Newham CouncilmajorOthers · 1 January 2020Newham Council delivered Fair Share food to the charity and provided a new freezer and fridge to support COVID-19 food relief operations. Also provided Community Hall for COVID Testing Station for three months in 2021.
• People's Empowerment Alliance of Custom House (PEACH)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013PEACH was formed and the charity served as Local Trusted Organisation responsible for finances and staff employment. PEACH developed a community-run participation and development project focused on housing issues. Charity ended LTO role in June 2020 after PEACH became an incorporated self-controlling body.
• Parkside Gardening ProjectminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2007Parkside started in 1990 and became homeless in 2007. The charity supported Parkside by employing workers, providing insurance, accounting for funds, and helping during difficult times. Parkside is now a fully fledged part of the charity with money kept in a ring-fenced account.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Locality: The UK national membership body for community organisations, including many community anchor charities operating community buildings. Relevant as a peer given the comparable building-based community development model, though it operates at a national rather than single-site scale.
• Power to Change: An independent trust that supports community businesses across England, including those operating community buildings and letting space to fund local programs. Comparable in mission focus (community-controlled assets, self-sustaining revenue) though operating as a funder rather than operator.

Others

• Citizens UK: UK-wide community organising alliance with active chapters in East London (including Newham) that brings local residents together around housing, regeneration, and social issues. Comparable in place-based community organising work in the same borough.
• Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES): UK think-and-do tank focused on community wealth building, local economic development, and neighbourhood regeneration. Comparable as a peer in the community economic development space and a likely partner/peer organisation in the regeneration field.
• Trust for London: A London-focused charitable foundation that funds work on poverty, community organising, and place-based initiatives across the capital. Relevant as a comparable London funder/ecosystem participant supporting community renewal in areas like Newham.

Direct peers

• Toynbee Hall: Historic East London settlement charity founded in 1884 that combines a community building hub with programs addressing poverty, social isolation, and community resilience. Closely comparable to CH&CTCRP in mission, East London geography, and blend of building-based and outreach services.
• Bromley by Bow Centre: A pioneering East London community anchor charity operating from a converted church building, combining space lettings, health services, and community programs for local residents. The model closely parallels CH&CTCRP's combination of heritage building, office/community tenants, and place-based charitable activity.
• The Renewal Programme: A London-based community organisation working on housing, regeneration, and community development with residents in areas of deprivation. Comparable to CH&CTCRP in its community renewal mission and focus on Custom House area regeneration through local resident engagement.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/parksidegardeningproject

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Custom House and Canning Town Community Renewal Project