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<div><strong>We Need More Space to Support Our Community</strong>
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<div>RUSH 2The DEN is a volunteer-led, independent charity based in Rushden, Northamptonshire. Each year, we support over 6,300 people through our two charities:
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<li>RUSH 2The DEN Youth Club (Charity No. 1175976)
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<li>RUSH 2The DEN Tots &amp; Adults (Charity No. 1172562)
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<div>Founded in June 2014, RUSH 2The DEN was recently honoured with the King’s Award for Voluntary Service. Our centre is run entirely by dedicated, DBS-checked volunteers and works in partnership with local organisations including Inner Wheel, Rotary, Rotaract, King’s Trust and Grace4Rushden.
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<div>We are open all year round (closing only on Christmas and Bank Holidays) and operate with a clear ethos:
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<li>“Inspiring young people to achieve”, with an inclusive policy so that no one is excluded due to affordability.
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<div><strong>The Problem: We’ve Outgrown Our Building</strong>
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<div>Our non-profit community building has just three rooms, plus a kitchen and toilets.
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<div>All rooms are used at full capacity. Every session is oversubscribed.
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<li>We have the volunteers.
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<li>We have the demand.
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<li>We do not have the space.
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<div><strong>The Solution: A Mezzanine Second Floor</strong>
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<div>We have been granted planning permission to add a mezzanine floor within the existing building footprint.
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<div>This will create:
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<div>- Dedicated counselling room
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<div>- Family time &amp; befriending rooms
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<div>- Additional hall for group work and training
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<div>- Space for:
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<li>Parental first aid classes
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<li>Baby-led weaning &amp; breastfeeding support
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<li>Baby massage &amp; potty training
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<li>Group therapy
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<li>Healthy cooking &amp; budgeting
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<li>Before-school Breakfast Club
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<li>After-school “High Tea” for pre-teens and teens
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<div>The new floor will require:
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<li>Structural flooring
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<li>Accessible staircase
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<li>Secondary fire escape
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<li>Wheelchair access lift
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<div><strong>Total project cost: £100,000</strong>
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<div>The entire expansion depends on this funding.
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<div><strong>What We Do</strong>
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<div><em>Youth Support</em>
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<div>We provide safe, welcoming spaces where young people can build confidence, skills and positive life choices. Our youth provision includes:
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<div>- Age-specific youth clubs: 5-7s, 8-10s, 11-14s, 15-17s
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<div>- Freedom SEND (Primary &amp; Seniors)
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<div>- IndepenDENce (15-21s) - supporting young people towards independent living
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<div>Focus areas for IndepenDENce include:
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<li>Work ethics
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<li>Healthy cooking
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<li>Budgeting &amp; travel skills
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<li>Confidence building
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<li>Crafts
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<div>- AEGIS (LGBTQ+) - a free, weekly support group offering a safe, supportive space for young people to be themselves, away from bullying and hate crime
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<div>Alongside weekly sessions (50 weeks per year), young people also take part in life-changing activities such as camps, challenge weeks, bike maintenance, rambles and residential stays.
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<div><em>Challenge Week</em>
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<div>Each year, we take 10 young people aged 11-17 on a physically and mentally challenging week away. Past challenges include Snowdon, the Lake District, Hadrian’s Wall and coastal routes. In 2026, we will walk the 68-mile Isle of Wight coastal route.
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<div>Costs are kept low by volunteers leading and funding their own participation. Around 60% of participants are from low-income families. These challenges consistently deliver lasting improvements in confidence, resilience, teamwork and self-esteem.
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<div><strong>Tots &amp; Adults Support</strong>
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<div>Our daytime provision supports babies, toddlers, parents and carers, helping to reduce isolation and improve mental wellbeing.
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<div>Sessions include:
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<li>Baby Sensory Snug (daily)
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<li>Messy Play
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<li>Crafty Fingers
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<li>Stay &amp; Play
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<li>Soft Play
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<li>Role-play sessions
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<div>Adults are welcomed with refreshments and access to befriending, counselling, baby self-weigh services, and peer support.
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<div><strong>Practical Support for Families</strong>
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<li><strong>Swap Shop (monthly):</strong> free children’s clothes, shoes, toys, books, baby equipment, nappies and formula
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<li><strong>Food support: </strong>daily surplus food collected from local supermarkets and distributed free of charge
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<li><strong>Free sanitary products</strong> via Hey Girls
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<li><strong>School holiday provision</strong> for families with limited access to childcare or transport
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<div>Support is open to everyone who needs it, including people experiencing homelessness.
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<div><strong>Why This Matters Now</strong>
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<div>Rushden is classed as a highly deprived area, with rising crime and limited youth provision. Many young people currently gather in unsafe public spaces simply because there is nowhere else to go.
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<div>With more space, RUSH 2The DEN can:
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<li>Offer safe before- and after-school spaces
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<li>Run overlapping support groups properly (not back-to-back in the same room)
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<li>Expand adult mental health sessions
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<li>Reduce isolation, antisocial behaviour and community tension
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<div><strong>We can do more. We just need the room to do it.</strong>
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<div><em>Thank you for taking the time to consider our request and support our vision for a safer, stronger community.</em>
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Jacqueline Moyse

Andrew Norris

Emma Swingler

Anonymous

martyna Czerniewska

Darran Pye

Gemma Bathurst-curry

Rebecca Wooding

Johnny Rogers

Yi sin Lo

Hemant Patel

Antony Staples

RUSH 2The DEN make more space to help more people - upstairs

Just £438£440£439£438£437£436 to go! Make an impact.

RUSH 2The DEN make more space to help more people - upstairs

Just £438 to go!
Make an impact.