How do you raise £3.5 million?
One step at a time – and with a whole community behind you.
When we first began talking about raising the money needed to build Hadlow Down’s new Community Centre, the scale of the challenge could feel daunting.
That figure has increased considerably since this project began. Like construction projects across the country, we have seen significant increases in the cost of materials, labour and professional services – and costs continue to rise.
It is one of the reasons maintaining momentum matters so much. Delay doesn’t simply postpone the new Centre; it risks making it more expensive to deliver.
But you don’t raise millions of pounds from one place or in one go.
Making a big project achievable
Our current estimate is that delivering the complete Community Centre could require funding of around £3.5 million. With construction costs continuing to rise, we know that is a significant challenge.
So we are approaching it practically.
The project has been divided into two phases, allowing us to concentrate our fundraising and get the most important part of the development built first.
Phase 1 – the new Village Hall – is our immediate priority and is currently estimated at approximately £2.4 million. This will deliver the new Hall and the essential infrastructure needed for the site, including the main hall and stage, community spaces, kitchen, toilets and storage, car parking and associated external works.
Phase 2 will complete the dedicated Sports Pavilion facilities, building on the infrastructure already delivered through Phase 1.
This phased approach gives us a realistic route to construction. Rather than waiting until every pound required for the complete £3.5 million project has been secured, we can focus on assembling the funding package needed to deliver Phase 1 and get the new Village Hall built.
It also makes the substantial support already committed locally even more significant. The village’s potential contribution of approximately £500,000 represents more than a fifth of the current estimated cost of Phase 1 – an extraordinary level of local commitment and a powerful starting point when we approach major funders.
You build a strong project. You demonstrate that the community wants it. You secure planning permission. You develop the design. You raise money locally. You build relationships with major funders. And, step by step, you put together the funding package that will turn an ambitious idea into a building.
That is exactly what we are doing.
Where are we now?
The project has made enormous progress.
We have extant planning permission for the new Community Centre at the Playing Field and a clear mandate from the village to move forward.
In the September 2025 Parish Poll, residents supported proposals that could provide approximately £500,000 of local investment towards the project through a Public Works Loan Board loan of up to £250,000 and realising economic value from the existing Village Hall site.
That level of commitment from a relatively small village is significant.
It also sends an important message to the organisations we are now approaching for major funding: Hadlow Down is prepared to invest in its own future.
A community already investing in itself
Our case to funders isn’t based only on what we hope will happen in the new Centre. It is based on what already happens here.
Our community evidence identifies at least 9,291 hours of volunteering in Hadlow Down every year — supporting older residents, children and families, sport, culture, events, the church, village communications and community organisations.
Alongside this extraordinary contribution of time, residents supported measures in the September 2025 Parish Poll capable of providing approximately £500,000 towards the new Community Centre.
Unlocking major funding
The next stage is about using that strong local commitment to help unlock substantially larger sums.
HDCC Trustees have been working with Wealden District Council and are pursuing funding from charitable trusts, foundations, grant-making organisations and other major potential supporters.
No single organisation is expected to fund the entire project. Our strategy is to assemble the construction funding from a number of sources – combining local investment, public funding, charitable grants, major donations and community fundraising.
To unlock some of those larger funding opportunities, however, we need to demonstrate that the project is technically developed, accurately costed and ready to build.
That brings us to our immediate challenge.
The £42,000 that could unlock much more
We are currently raising £42,000 to complete RIBA Stage 4 – the detailed technical design package for the new Community Centre.
This is the work that takes our approved architectural plans and develops them into the detailed drawings, engineering information and specifications needed to tender the project and establish robust construction costs.
It is also an important piece of evidence for major funders: it demonstrates that this is a properly developed, deliverable project ready to move towards construction.
And we are already well on our way.
We have raised £24,000 of the £42,000 needed.
That leaves £18,000 to find.
It is a relatively small amount in the context of the overall project, but completing this work could help us unlock funding worth hundreds of thousands of pounds towards the build.
That’s why every donation right now really matters.
Fundraising – the Hadlow Down way
Alongside applications for major funding, an extraordinary amount continues to be raised closer to home.
Our brilliant local fundraising committee has worked tirelessly to organise events and activities that bring people together while raising money for the new Centre.
From markets, raffles and village events to individual challenges and donations, these efforts do much more than add to the total. They demonstrate the depth of community support behind this project.
And there is plenty more to come.
The fundraising team is already working on an exciting Open Gardens initiative for spring/summer 2027, when we hope to throw open some wonderful local gardens and welcome visitors while raising money for the new Centre. There will be more details to follow as plans develop.
Extraordinary individual efforts
We are also incredibly fortunate to have people prepared to do quite extraordinary things on our behalf.
Our Trustee Mandy Chapman has just returned from successfully completing an epic cycle ride from Dover to Istanbul, raising money for Polymyalgia causes and Hadlow Down Community Centre.
Mandy completed the challenge despite major mechanical problems with the bike, difficult border crossings and cycling conditions that ranged from a punishing heatwave to torrential rain.
She kept pedalling – all the way to Istanbul.
At the time of writing, Mandy has raised an amazing £1,178, half of which – £589 – will come to HDCC.
We are enormously grateful to Mandy and to everyone who has sponsored her.
You can read the diary of her extraordinary adventure on Instagram at @tandembiketouring.
And there is still time to sponsor her through her fundraising page.
Every pound has a part to play
A £10 donation and a £100,000 grant may look very different on a funding spreadsheet, but both are part of the same story.
When a major funder looks at Hadlow Down, we want them to see a community that hasn’t simply asked somebody else to build something for it.
We want them to see the people organising events, opening their gardens, cycling across Europe, buying raffle tickets, making individual donations, volunteering their time and supporting a substantial village contribution.
That community commitment gives us a powerful case when we ask others to invest alongside us.
Can you help us take the next step?
Right now, our focus is completing the funding for RIBA Stage 4.
We have raised £24,000. We need £18,000 more.
If you are able to make a donation – large or small – you will be helping us complete the technical work needed to move towards tender and strengthen our applications for major construction funding.
You can donate through our JustGiving page or directly to HDCC by bank transfer. If you are eligible for Gift Aid, your donation could be worth an additional 25% to the charity at no extra cost to you.
If you are considering making a significant donation and would like to talk to one of our Trustees first, please contact Lally Drake at lally@jdoglobal.com, who will be very happy to arrange a conversation.
And please keep an eye on our News pages for updates on the Stage 4 campaign, major funding applications and our community fundraising programme.
£3.5 million?
It is a big number.
But we no longer look at it as one enormous sum that somehow has to be found.
We look at the £500,000 potential village investment. The major funding opportunities we are working to unlock. The £24,000 already raised towards Riba Stage 4. Mandy’s extraordinary ride to Istanbul. The fundraising committee planning the next event. The individual donations. Local Business support. The volunteers. And every person who decides they want to play a part.
That’s how you raise £3.5 million.
Together.
