999 Club x Round Retail pop up shop at Deptford Market. Pic: Annie Hought
In the midst of increasing demands for homeless services, a Lewisham based charity helping fight homelessness in South East London, 999 Club, have partnered with Round Retail, a fashion retailer, for a month-long pop up shop at Deptford Market.
The pop up shop will not only raise funds for the 999 Club but also aims to increase awareness about the charity by having volunteers on site to discuss their mission so more people will volunteer and donate.
Throughout the month of March, Round Retail, which often collaborates with charities, has been given a free space at one of the Deptford Market arches to set up shop by Appear Here, an organisation that helps shops, markets, and pop ups find space, helped the pop up gain their placement there at the market.
Ben Latham, Head of Fundraising and Communications at 999 Club, told Eastlondonlines: “We’re really grateful that Appear Here have given 999 Club the opportunity to set up shop (for free!) right in the thriving heart of Deptford Market Yard.
“Partnering with the brilliant Round Retail, it has been the ideal opportunity to invite Deptford locals to get a better understanding of who we are and what we do.
“With homelessness so steeply on the rise in London and particularly in Deptford and Lewisham we need the support of our community more than ever and we hope that the shop encourages people to join our club, either as donors, volunteers or promoters.
“If we can achieve all this while bringing affordable fashion briefly to the Market Yard then hopefully everyone’s a winner!’”
999 Club and Round Retail pop up shop interior. Pic: Annie Hought
The funds raised at the pop up shop will be split in three ways between those who donated the items being sold, Round Retail, and 999 Club.
With regards to Round Retails’ partnership with 999 Club, Hought said: “A lot of the times in a charity situation you get funding for specific things, whereas I’m not asking for them to spend their money on one particular thing. They’re able to take whatever I’ve raised in the past and will raise in this job, and spend it on the kind of there-and-then needs that they might have.”
Annie Hought in front of Round Retail shop. Pic: Annie Hought
This isn’t the first time Round Retail has partnered with 999 Club, a past pop up shop managed to raise over £1500 for the charity.
Hought said: “The dream impact is to get more people involved with their work. Every community that I’ve been in, I would say, the majority of people don’t know the charity that I’ve partnered with.
“It’s usually because they don’t have huge budgets, huge fundraising departments of their own to get the word out locally, and it’s often, the multinational charities that have that everyday presence with people.
“My hope is that by having somebody in store every day, being able to talk to people, explain the work that’s going on at the 999 club, they’d be able to, quite clearly see how they’d be able to help. If they’re a graphic designer, maybe they’d be willing to give some hours up for that, or if they’re a journalist, maybe they’d be able to do some press around it, or whatever it might be.”
