We need your help to continue running your community library service and arts centre.
We are asking everyone in our local community to become a Friend of the Corbett Library, for £2 per month, or £10 per year. You can donate straight away by clicking here, or the banner below.
Back in 2016, the Library on Torridon Road was threatened with closure because Lewisham Council could no longer afford to keep it open. In response, local residents stepped in to take over the management of the iconic local landmark.
Our area has a very high proportion of older people, and the highest dementia diagnosis rate in Lewisham. We sit in an ethnically diverse area, and one with a large population of children and young people. The provision of a library service, warm welcome space, and community centre is, without question, an absolute necessity.
Today, the Corbett Community Library is a community-led organisation with a strong reputation for providing for the community as a library, arts centre, and commons space. This last point is important: our core services are, and always will be, completely free, and accessible to all. For most residents on our estate, this makes us the sole free public service within a 30 minute walk of their home.
More than 4,000 people walk through our doors at least once each year, and our visitors know it as a vibrant and welcoming space – both built for and ran by the community in which it sits, placing it uniquely well to respond to the complex set of needs and challenges around us.
Friends of the Corbett Library
Sadly, managing and maintaining an independent library in a historic Grade II listed building is expensive – we aren’t able to pay our bills with community spirit, try as we might!
While the Library has grown into a beloved local cultural hub for the Catford community, its future is far from certain. The service necessitates a small staff team managing on the ground, and in addition to salary costs we must also be able to cover the cost of running a large public building.
A new charity, the Friends of the Corbett Library, has been set up to raise funds for running the Library, and will give local people an opportunity to help us achieve sustainability in the coming years.
If we can get enough people to join the Friends, the Library will be on a much firmer financial footing, and will be able to focus more the longer-term development of services to meet the community’s needs.
Become a member
Your support will help ensure the Corbett Community Library’s survival. You can join the Friends on an annual membership of £10 a year, or £2 monthly. You will receive a monthly Corbett Community Library Newsletter, keeping you up to date with what’s going on at your local community centre. Additionally, you will receive 10% off special events held at the Library.
If we can achieve a good number of local residents setting up standing orders to join our Friends scheme, it will go a very long way towards helping the library continue to offer its vital services, and keep growing in the future.
You can find our donation page here, or by clicking the purple Justgiving image below:
Personal donations
We also welcome one-off personal donations – and will offer Friends membership to any donors matching or exceeding the minimum membership donation price.
You will receive a certificate of thanks in acknowledgement of your generosity in support of the Corbett Library. Remember, each £1 of your donation can be increased by 25% Gift Aid if you are a UK taxpayer.
You can make a one-off donation here, or by following the Justgiving banner below:
Corporate donations
By making a donation on behalf of your company, you will receive a certificate acknowledging your company’s support to a critical service for local residents, and have your company’s name displayed on our donor’s board. Your donation can be claimed as relief against UK corporation tax.