We have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to buy our building on Church Street – the home of Life Dronfield – from our landlord, at well under half its market value. Doing so secures this space for the town for good, and unlocks the renovation funding we’ve been working towards. With your help, we can get it over the line.
The opportunity
We currently lease the building from our landlord, with about 27 years left on the lease. The landlord is unlikely to extend it – but they have offered us the option to buy.
The building has been independently valued by Saxton Mee at £400,000. Our purchase option is £225,000 – close to half the market value.
Why this matters
Owning the building does two big things:
- It secures our home in the heart of Dronfield for good.
- It unlocks the renovation funding we’ve been working on. Almost every grant conversation comes back to one question – “Who owns the building?” Once the answer is “Life Dronfield”, the doors open.
What we need
The charity has roughly £35,000–£40,000 of its own funds set aside, and around £6,000–£7,000 has already been gifted by people and groups in the community over the last few weeks – thank you. We also have several grant applications in.
To get the building over the line, we still need to raise around £60,000.
How you can help
There are a few ways to get involved:
- Take part in a sponsored event. The Hallamshire Concert Band fundraiser (6 June), the Dronfield 4 Peaks community walk (25 July) and the Steel Cotton Rail Trail two-day walk (12–13 September).
- Give a one-off gift. With Gift Aid, HMRC adds 25% at no extra cost to you. Bank details and forms are on the donate page.
- Set up a regular gift. Even £10 or £20 a month, ring-fenced for the building purchase, adds up.
- Spread the word. Follow us on Facebook, share what we’re doing, and tell people about the opportunity.
- Got a fundraising idea of your own? We’d love to hear from you.
All gifts marked for the building purchase will be ring-fenced for that purpose. If we don’t reach the target in time, we’ll return your contribution.
Where we are today
This isn’t a building we hope to fill one day – it’s the home of work that’s already happening. In a typical week we run around 22 hours of groups and activities across Dronfield, plus 8 hours of advocacy, supporting people through court, into housing, into work and through difficult moments. Our co-working space is now open 24 hours a week.
Across the last two months alone, with our brilliant volunteer team, we have:
- served 472 meals at our lunch clubs
- worked with 523 young people through our youth provision
- given 69 hours of advocacy support
- supported 223 families
Get in touch
If you’d like to talk this through – about giving, fundraising, or how the charity works – please get in touch with Andy Evers (charity manager) or Anna Rattigan (charity administrator). Email Andy, or simply pop into the office on Church Street.