Herne Hill Solidarity Fund

Read our ethos and constitution here.
Read our expenses policy here.


What is the SE24 Solidarity Fund?

The Herne Hill Solidarity Fund is a community money pot for neighbours who are struggling to buy essentials. There are no conditions to apply for the fund, other than being a resident of SE24. When you put a request in, you can let us know briefly why you have requested funds and we will then approve your request. All you need is proof of address (this doesn’t need to be anything formal, just something that shows you live in SE24) and a bank account so that we know you are within the local area. If you don’t have these, contact us and we will try to help.

We know that situations change and we respect the autonomy of those who receive the money to spend it however they need. Therefore, we don’t ask for receipts or proof of how money has been spent. You can apply once a month and our fund is given out in chunks of £50.

All contributions and expenses are published on the Open Collective website, so there is full transparency of the money which comes in and out of the fund. It is possible to remain anonymous as either a backer of the fund (by selecting ‘incognito’) or as a recipient (by using your initials).

We hope that the fund becomes something residents of SE24 will be able to take ownership of, used by and belonging to our community.   

If you have requested fund, please let us know what you think of this fund and we can do better by completing this 5min survey.

Where does the money come from?

We encourage residents of SE24 to donate to our fund to support their local community, and we appreciate donations from anyone who supports our aims. You can donate as much or as little as you like, but we recommend considering it as a chunk of your total income. For example, an hours’ or even a days’ wages are a good place to start. 

We know that donating to our fund is a little different to donating to a charity, so we ask those who contribute to trust that in helping each other out we strengthen our community as a whole.

We hope contributors will create an ongoing relationship and see their contribution as a way of showing their love for our unique neighbourhood. Hence, why we refer to contributors as ‘backers’ rather than just donors!