About Us

Our Mission & Vision

PEACH’s mission is to build collective, long-term, inclusive people power to win change on core issues in Custom House. We are not a service provider or a lobby group. Instead, we exist to support each other and build our strength as a community, so we can have a say over decisions which affect us. We are broad and diverse in our members and in the issues we address. 

Our vision is for a respectful, thriving community, with homes people can be proud of, streets people feel safe in, communal spaces with offerings for everyone and jobs that offer stability and dignity. 

Our belief is that we can make change by coming together, recognising our common interests and taking action. And we have the proof… Over the years, through building collective resident power in Newham, PEACH has been able to secure huge wins, such as 60% rent reductions for 250 temporary tenant households and a 300k rent arrears amnesty, among many others wins (see ‘our achievements’ below). Through organising, community connections have grown stronger and stronger. One member said, “I’ve been in my block for 31 years and I didn’t know my neighbours. Almost two years ago our block started organising as PEACH members, now we are all speaking to each other every day. Now I know everyone’s name in my block.”

Where we started 

After months of preparation, in April 2013, 150 residents from the schools, churches, streets and clubs of Custom House came together to found People’s Empowerment Alliance for Custom House (PEACH).

We listened to each other’s testimonials; some were difficult stories about unstable work and zero hour contracts, housing left unrepaired and losing loved ones to street violence, but we also heard about the strong history of people standing together in Custom House through the churches, tenants’ organisations and trade unions in the docks.

We discussed different proposals in response to these problems and voted to prioritise the top 4 areas that PEACH would take action on. Our resulting agenda is to improve the Jobs, Housing, Safety and Health of Custom House. We also voted on a name (PEACH) and agreed our vision for our area.

PEACH’s first Steering Group wanted to do things differently, having seen endless programmes, schemes and initiatives come and go while little changed locally – they wanted to take a strategic community organising approach to building the power of Custom House residents to take action for themselves. Over the years, we have learned together, grown and adapted the way we work. We are member-led and we stick together. 

Our Funders: Big Local (Local Trust)

PEACH is part of the Big Local Scheme, which has seen 150 of the most deprived areas across England receive £1 million worth of funding over 10 years – from 2013 – 2023 –  to be spent by local people to improve their areas. In line with the funder requirements, we set up a decision-making body – PEACH Steering Group – consisting of at least 8 local residents, representing the diverse communities living in Custom House, who all volunteer their time as part of the Steering Group and other PEACH projects. The group meets once a month to make democratic decisions about PEACH’s strategy, projects and budgets. The group is responsible for producing an annual budget and Big Local Plan, which lays out what we are aiming to achieve and how we are going to get there. To produce this plan, the Steering Group regularly consults with the wider community and holds large meetings where PEACH members make decisions together. You can find out more about Big Local here.  PEACH also receives funding from Trust for London

Our Achievements

Since we launched in April 2013, we are proud to say that PEACH has grown and can count some impressive achievements.

PEACH members formed the Mears Cats campaign group and campaigned for 4 years to break the council’s contract with Mears (a property management company that left homes to fall into disrepair and bullied residents). Eventually they secured HUGE wins returning 250 properties to council management, securing 60% rent reductions for 250 temporary tenant households and a 300k rent arrears amnesty.

In autumn of 2021 as part of the Love Custom House Now project, PEACH members fought for and won an interim refurbishment programme delivered by Newham Council. This was especially for the ex-Mears properties that were in unlivable conditions. For the first time in decades money is being spent on refurbishing homes and emergency repairs are being fixed. Over 80 properties were refurbished by the end of 2023, including 5 blocks where windows were changed from mould-prone, single glazed to safer, double glazed. 

We have set up the Custom House Workers Co-operative- a cleaning company which is run and owned by its workers. This is bringing stable, dignified and fairly waged work to the area. We have built Street Groups and taken collective action to ensure that the council carried out basic repairs in Normandy Terrace have been carried out- roof repairs, window replacements, new bathrooms and kitchen cabinets.

In Hoskins Close, residents made the local press by taking ‘mouldy’ ginger bread house biscuits to the Head of Property Services to highlight the state of their homes. They lead a successful negotiation to ensure that hundreds of thousands of pounds from the council will be invested in the estate.

The Shopkeepers of Freemasons Rd came together and are establishing a Shopkeepers’ Charter to protect the local high-street through the regeneration program. Over a 100 young people gathered to commemorate the life of Bobby Litambola who was sadly murdered in Custom House, and worked with shopkeepers to launch 9 City Safe Havens in the area where people can seek sanctuary.

Parents’ numeracy and literacy classes have been set up by primary school parents to enable them to support their children’s education at home.