The Guild community sustains places that are increasingly left out of the wealth of London through trusted relationships with civic groups, neighbours, employees and suppliers. Our ecosystem is essential to the cultural, social and economic life of East London.
OUR MISSION: To build the collective strength of small-scale enterprises and through this process, we aim to help create a bridge towards a fair, inclusive, and sustainable economy. We enable members to act together according to their common interests, build trust and enhance economic resilience and well-being.
STRATEGY: Rooted in the Community Organising approach, the Guild harnesses public support to target decision-makers for action to develop the solidarity economy and to maintain the cultural, social, and environmental value that members inject into neighbourhoods.
IMPLEMENTATION: Our socials, collective actions, and workshops cultivate community wealth by strengthening solidarity and collaboration between local small businesses from diverse communities. By taking action on our Manifesto for the New Economy, we achieve our mission with tangible goals.
To be an effective and powerful force for good, we need as many small businesses and socially trading organisations in membership as possible. This gives us the people power to bring our Manifesto to life, such as securing a site for our Community Land Trust initiative for permanently affordable rent. The self-employed, small businesses & socially trading organisations of any description that are based in London can join our community provided they can align with the following values and principles.
VALUES: Together we are stronger – we achieve our aims when we align ourselves with the Guild’s values.
- Inclusive our diversity is our strength; the Guild is open to all sectors and to people from all backgrounds, genders and sexualities
- Reciprocal through collective action on common interests, our work generates solidarity, reciprocity and trust between members and the wider community
- Collaborative by working with like-minded organisations, we grow strength for effective action on the issues that matter to our members
- Dependable we strive to keep our promises – with members, partners, investors and everyone else. When we make mistakes (we’re all human), we own up and say we’re sorry
- Creative we think imaginatively to solve problems big and small
- Pragmatic we are both ambitious and realistic. Our work is rooted in the broad base of our member’s common interests, not in ideology or dogma
- Sustainable we believe in an environmentally sustainable future for people and the planet
Once you have joined, a member of our community will be in touch to arrange a meeting to welcome you in person within two weeks.
Please select the pricing that you are most comfortable with. People who pay more support those who can’t pay as much; everyone contributes to making the Guild self-sufficient and accountable to members, not big business or government. Remember, joining the Guild also makes you a member of the London Trades Guild Commnity Land Trust and will give you voting rights on our shared vision for this exciting initiative.