£120,000 Raised Brick by Brick: An East Ham Baptist Church Starts Building Homes for People Leaving Homelessness

• Construction began in March 2026 at Bonny Downs Baptist Church in East Ham, east London
• The upper floors will hold eight studios for people with experience of homelessness
• Two further flats are for church and community workers
• Church members raised £120,000 through a buy-a-brick appeal

Building work has begun on a new kind of church building in East Ham, east London. Community Led Homes reported in March 2026 that Bonny Downs Baptist Church has started on site with a scheme that combines worship, a day centre for homeless people and a small intentional community of homes above.

The ground floor will host Sunday services and, on weekdays, the NEWday day centre, which welcomes 45 to 50 guests a day. The upper two storeys will contain eight studio homes for single people with experience of homelessness and two flats for church and community workers who will live alongside them.

Residents will begin on a supported tenancy before moving on to independent living. The project is being delivered with the homelessness project NEWway and J49 Housing Association, with architects Panter Hudspith and advisory support from Community Led Homes. The idea was first explored in 2019.

Funding came from a mix of sources: the Greater London Authority, the London Baptist Association, the National Lottery Community Fund, Benefact Trust and the church’s own members, who raised £120,000 by “buying a brick”.

The scheme turns a church building into a place where people leaving homelessness can live in community rather than alone. It also shows how a congregation can draw together public grants, denominational support and its own giving to deliver something none of them could achieve separately.

East London has long been home to Caribbean families and Black-majority churches, and homelessness is a pressing concern for many congregations there. For churches in Jamaica and in the diaspora looking at ageing halls, Bonny Downs offers a practical template: rebuild for worship and care on the ground floor, add modest homes above, and let members own part of the vision through their giving.

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