Hello! We’re Summertown Arts Community, a small but mighty charity running Summertown Arts: an affordable, accessible and inclusive community arts hub. It’s a place where artists of all kinds can take creative risks, rehearse, practise, teach and perform. A place where everyone is welcome to enjoy the wonderful work that grows from it.
We spent the best part of 2025 raising funds to save the building we were using for a few years; it was at risk of being sold and lost forever. Thanks to so many generous people - including many of you who donated, volunteered, or spread the word - we raised a massive £870,000 and the building has been saved, the fees paid, and we've started up! The former Summertown United Reformed Church is now Summertown Arts, forever: for the community, by the community.
Now we need your help to unlock Summertown Arts’ full potential - using the space and our network to systemically removing barriers for artists and making the arts accessible to everyone. Our income model to enable this is tested: artists hire our spaces at low, affordable hourly rates. However, to reach a point of sustainable income, we need support through our first year as Summertown Arts.
We’ve done the homework, gathered the quotes, and mapped out what’s needed: essential building works, removing the pews, installing solar on roof of the building at the back, key equipment (for example, audio-visual), core costs, artistic programmes, ecosystem building, and a really exciting space bursary so artists who need support can use the some space for free and be supported by everything we're bringing together.
To make it happen, we need to raise £200,000 over the next 12 months (We're currently at just over £74,000 raised!). Most of this will come from grant applications but we're also hoping for individual giving. Once we're there, we should have enough tested income streams, long-term partnerships, and large multi-year grants to help us be an impactful and sustainable organisation.
We spent the best part of 2025 raising funds to save the building we were using for a few years; it was at risk of being sold and lost forever. Thanks to so many generous people - including many of you who donated, volunteered, or spread the word - we raised a massive £870,000 and the building has been saved, the fees paid, and we've started up! The former Summertown United Reformed Church is now Summertown Arts, forever: for the community, by the community.
Now we need your help to unlock Summertown Arts’ full potential - using the space and our network to systemically removing barriers for artists and making the arts accessible to everyone. Our income model to enable this is tested: artists hire our spaces at low, affordable hourly rates. However, to reach a point of sustainable income, we need support through our first year as Summertown Arts.
We’ve done the homework, gathered the quotes, and mapped out what’s needed: essential building works, removing the pews, installing solar on roof of the building at the back, key equipment (for example, audio-visual), core costs, artistic programmes, ecosystem building, and a really exciting space bursary so artists who need support can use the some space for free and be supported by everything we're bringing together.
To make it happen, we need to raise £200,000 over the next 12 months (We're currently at just over £74,000 raised!). Most of this will come from grant applications but we're also hoping for individual giving. Once we're there, we should have enough tested income streams, long-term partnerships, and large multi-year grants to help us be an impactful and sustainable organisation.
Please help us raise £200,000 over the next 12 months
More information about how you can help us over the next 12 months:
1. Volunteer as a fundraiser
Can you spare time to talk to people about our campaign and help us fundraise £1,000? If the answer is yes - thank you! Please email us at [email protected] and I'll talk you through it all.
2. Donate money (Charity Number 1213117)
You can give in 3 ways:
1. Major gifts - please join so many who have already helped us on this journey to creating a legacy for everyone in Oxford to benefit from. If you can gift £10,000 or above - we would be so grateful. Also remember, with Gift Aid, it will all add up quickly for us, and it also tax beneficial to you too.
Get in touch with Darshan at [email protected] - we’ll chat things through with you, give you a tour, answer any questions you may have, and you can see how your gift will benefit so many.
2. Individual donations - you can give in the following ways:
Donate to us via our Zeffy page.
Why Zeffy? We used to use JustGiving but we moved to Zeffy as they take absolutely no fees from donations (they don't even charge for processing card payments). So, what you donate, is what we get. They're a great organisation, extremely ethical, and instead of taking fees - they transparently ask you for a tip to cover their costs. You can choose to give them something or choose not to - there is no obligation. If you don't want to tip them, when you see the tip mentioned - just click on the dropdown arrow, hit 'other' and put in zero.
Donate via bank transfer: Send us an email at [email protected] and we'll give you the details.
Donate by cheque: Please make it out to "Summertown Arts Community" and send it to: FAO Darshan, 43 Victoria Road, Oxford, OX2 7QD.
3. Sponsor us as a business - be part of this amazing community story - local businesses are getting involved by sponsoring us, would you be up for joining them? If so, email us at [email protected] and we can chat. You'll be joining some brilliant Oxford businesses - Xi'an, Mamma Mia Pizzeria, The Practice Rooms, Candid Zoomies, Super Being Labs, Neya, Popham Hairdressing, Shaw Gibbs, Mark Barclay Wealth Management, Magnet Kitchens, Summertown Barbers, Pen To Paper, All Souls College, St John's College, The Cluster, and many more. We also have global businesses like Mantra Group that have supported all the way through this journey.
3. Donate wisdom and items
If you can help with any of these - contact Darshan at [email protected] please:
- We will need support in refurbishments - are you or do you know someone who can advise us?
- We will need equipment - such as audio visual, a high quality piano, other instruments, and even seating - can you help with this?
- We will be running monthly raffles to raise funds - do you have something you can donate to us?
Thank you so much!
1. Volunteer as a fundraiser
Can you spare time to talk to people about our campaign and help us fundraise £1,000? If the answer is yes - thank you! Please email us at [email protected] and I'll talk you through it all.
2. Donate money (Charity Number 1213117)
You can give in 3 ways:
1. Major gifts - please join so many who have already helped us on this journey to creating a legacy for everyone in Oxford to benefit from. If you can gift £10,000 or above - we would be so grateful. Also remember, with Gift Aid, it will all add up quickly for us, and it also tax beneficial to you too.
Get in touch with Darshan at [email protected] - we’ll chat things through with you, give you a tour, answer any questions you may have, and you can see how your gift will benefit so many.
2. Individual donations - you can give in the following ways:
Donate to us via our Zeffy page.
Why Zeffy? We used to use JustGiving but we moved to Zeffy as they take absolutely no fees from donations (they don't even charge for processing card payments). So, what you donate, is what we get. They're a great organisation, extremely ethical, and instead of taking fees - they transparently ask you for a tip to cover their costs. You can choose to give them something or choose not to - there is no obligation. If you don't want to tip them, when you see the tip mentioned - just click on the dropdown arrow, hit 'other' and put in zero.
Donate via bank transfer: Send us an email at [email protected] and we'll give you the details.
Donate by cheque: Please make it out to "Summertown Arts Community" and send it to: FAO Darshan, 43 Victoria Road, Oxford, OX2 7QD.
3. Sponsor us as a business - be part of this amazing community story - local businesses are getting involved by sponsoring us, would you be up for joining them? If so, email us at [email protected] and we can chat. You'll be joining some brilliant Oxford businesses - Xi'an, Mamma Mia Pizzeria, The Practice Rooms, Candid Zoomies, Super Being Labs, Neya, Popham Hairdressing, Shaw Gibbs, Mark Barclay Wealth Management, Magnet Kitchens, Summertown Barbers, Pen To Paper, All Souls College, St John's College, The Cluster, and many more. We also have global businesses like Mantra Group that have supported all the way through this journey.
3. Donate wisdom and items
If you can help with any of these - contact Darshan at [email protected] please:
- We will need support in refurbishments - are you or do you know someone who can advise us?
- We will need equipment - such as audio visual, a high quality piano, other instruments, and even seating - can you help with this?
- We will be running monthly raffles to raise funds - do you have something you can donate to us?
Thank you so much!
How we're making the dream a reality with your help...
We've approached all of this in phases - we want to be responsible and do things in stages.
Phase 1 - June to December 2025 - was about rescuing the space and thanks to so many supporters - thanks to so many of you - we raised £850,000 to secure the purchase; The actual purchase process then took a further 5 months!
Phase 2 - January to March 2026 - we fundraised a further £20,000 to get going - to cover fees, start-up costs, and do some basic works so that we can begin turning Summertown Arts into a thriving community arts space. .
Phase 3 - March 2026 to March 2027 - we want to preserve the building, bring it up to scratch to help it thrive with the right set-up and equipment, and create a bursary for spaces. All of this will done in carefully structured ways so that we only do work when we have the capital. In the meantime, we will execute our sustainable income model from space hire and other streams of revenue - and that will mean we go into 2027 with a solid and sustainable foundation to build on.
Can you please help? Contact me at [email protected] if you would like a tour, a chat, or want to talk through a detailed funding budget to show where the money will be used. Thank you.
Please help by supporting Summertown Arts.
Thank you from all of us at SAC.
Darshan Sanghrajka
Systems, Growth, and Impact Trustee
Thank you from all of us at SAC.
Darshan Sanghrajka
Systems, Growth, and Impact Trustee