OUR HISTORY

Deptford First was formed as a charitable trust in 1979 by then-MP Rt. Hon. John Silkin, Canon David Diamond (former Rector of Deptford) and Roger Norman ( former editor of the South East London Mercury).

John Silkin was chairman until his death in April 1987, after which Dame Joan Ruddock succeeded him both as MP for Lewisham Deptford and as chair of our organisation. On Dame Joan's retirement in 2015, new MP Vicky Foxcroft followed her predecessors in becoming chair.

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The trust has always sought to support local initiatives and to assist individuals who have fallen through the gaps in what the state and other organisations can provide. 

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We also seek to bring together the people and organisations who support our community via networking and information sharing. At the moment, our main way of doing this is via our annual tea party.

We often hold our parties in Deptford Town Hall as we have always been very aware of the remarkable history of Deptford, something of which we are very proud of and want to share.

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Since Vicky took over as chair in 2015 she has been working to reinvigorate Deptford First. We have a new set of trustees on board and have been consulting on how we can best fit into the local charity landscape.

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