This summer I worked on a Leadership-in-Action project with East London Waterworks Park, a community-led initiative turning a disused Thames Water site into a public swimming and nature space. My task was to design a business model for their proposed Learning Spaces project, which will offer free, curriculum-linked outdoor education for local schools. At the start, I felt a mix of excitement and pressure, as this was my first time leading a project with real-world consequences for a community organisation.
The aim was to find a way for the Learning Spaces to become financially self-sustaining without charging schools. I focused on how corporate social responsibility could act as a main revenue stream. My work combined market analysis, financial modelling and case studies of CSR-driven social enterprises. I found that UK corporate CSR spending has grown by more than ten per cent annually since 2020, with education and sustainability as key priorities. That presented a clear opportunity for ELWP to build long-term partnerships with companies looking for measurable ESG impact. Throughout this process, I frequently checked in with ELWP volunteers, and their insight helped me understand the community context in a way that desktop research alone couldn’t.
I started by mapping the potential market. Waltham Forest and Hackney together have over 140 schools and nurseries within a 10-mile radius, serving around 27,000 pupils. There is already an appetite for nature-based learning, but existing providers such as the Suntrap Centre and Hackney City Farm charge between £300 and £400 per visit. ELWP could stand out by offering the same educational value completely free of charge. Developing these numbers involved a lot of back-and-forth with the team, and I learned how to communicate financial assumptions in a way that made sense to people with very different backgrounds.
I then modelled a set of revenue streams. The core of the plan was corporate CSR partnerships, bringing in £25,000 to £50,000 per partner each year. Alongside this, I proposed income from corporate away days, venue hire, community classes, memberships and small-scale grants. Together these could generate around £750,000 in annual revenue by year five, with a £450,000 surplus once costs were covered. The plan would reach break-even by year three and fund more than 10,000 free pupil visits every year.
To make this sustainable, I developed a cross-subsidisation model where corporate sponsorship covers the cost of free school access. I also recommended that ELWP set up a Community Equity Fund, ring-fencing 20 per cent of the surplus to subsidise local events, and a Maintenance Reserve for upkeep. The model would not only pay for the Learning Spaces but also contribute up to 40 per cent of the wider park’s operating costs. This was the part of the project where I started to feel genuinely confident in my ability to build something strategic, not just analytical.
I included a risk-management plan outlining how ELWP could handle grant dependency, inflation and reputational issues. This covered tiered corporate partnerships to reduce reliance on a single sponsor, contingency budgeting for construction overruns and an ethical sponsorship policy to avoid conflicts of interest.
The final section of my project outlined an implementation plan from 2026 to 2027. It recommended securing £150,000 in seed funding, piloting five school partnerships, and signing three corporate sponsors in the first year. By year five, the model aims for 20 corporate partners, 500 community members and a strong annual surplus to reinvest in education and community programmes. Working through this timeline with the team taught me how to translate financial modelling into an actionable roadmap.
This project gave me practical experience in financial modelling, impact measurement and strategic planning. It showed me how community projects can use business thinking to create long-term social value. The process also made me more aware of the trade-offs involved in balancing financial growth with inclusivity and ethics. One of the moments I felt most proud of was presenting the business model to the trustees and seeing them view it as something that could realistically be implemented.
The Learning Spaces business model is now being reviewed by the ELWP trustees. If implemented, it has the potential to make free outdoor learning a permanent, self-funded part of the park and a replicable model for other community-run projects across the UK. Knowing that my work could shape part of ELWP’s long-term future, and possibly provide a template for other organisations, feels like a meaningful legacy from my summer.