Combining creative and commercial experience, working for impact not for profit.
Jill Finch is a Sanderstead resident and founder and co-director of A Collective, a Croydon-based Creative Health and Wellbeing non-profit. She also has a shared creative practice with her teenager Bea, undertaking commissions and socially-engaged art projects.
When Croydon Council closed Sanderstead Library, Jill was determined that the building would not be lost as a community space.
Drawing on her lived experience, creative practice and years of community work combined with her business background, Jill developed the vision for The Story Sanctuary. The proposal is rooted in care, creativity and co-production, and reflects the values that underpin A Collective’s work: inclusive participatory arts, healing conversations and joy-centred community building.
Temporary caretakers and coordinators
A new, independent organisation will be created to hold and steward The Story Sanctuary in the long term. During this early phase, A Collective is operating the building under a temporary licence, so we can open the space, care for it, and support its day-to-day use.
A Collective hopes to continue to work in close partnership with the new organisation, supporting programming, community relationships and values-led ways of working.
The Story Sanctuary is a shared, community-led project, shaped by many people, and grounded in collaboration rather than ownership.