Creekside Education Trust

For a quarter of a century, 'Creekside' has been a guardian of one of London’s most surprising and precious natural spaces: the tidal Deptford Creek, a tributary of the River Thames.

Here in Southeast London, wildflowers bloom, eels migrate, kingfishers dart past tower blocks and juvenile fish find refuge in hidden nurseries. This is a rich, ever-changing habitat teeming with life, just metres from busy streets and new developments.

What makes it truly special? Creekside has rare, direct access to this living Creek, allowing people to wade into the water and experience urban nature up close. It’s not just beautiful - it’s exciting, unpredictable, and bursting with life.

But Creekside is more than a wildlife charity.  We are educators, protectors, and community connectors. Our purpose is simple and powerful:

To inspire people to connect

with the wonder of urban wildlife 

In a time of climate crisis, nature loss, and urban disconnection, places like Creekside matter more than ever. We are not a relic of the past, we are a model for the future: grassroots, place-based charity showing what’s possible when people and nature thrive together.

Everything we do is rooted in three core pillars:

  • Conservation of a rare and vital urban ecosystem

  • Education that inspires connection, confidence, and curiosity

  • Community partnership and engagement that puts local people at the heart of protecting what’s on their doorstep

Creekside reminds us that even in the middle of a city, nature can thrive - if we choose to see it, share it, and stand up for it.

Our location

 

A unique brown field site

Creekside Discovery Centre is based on a site that is one of the most biodiverse landscapes for its size in London. It has unique eco-heritage features including a brownfield based landscape, a brown living roof and natural sloping banks to the foreshore of Deptford Creek. 

The Centre was developed in response to the significant regeneration the area was seeing and a need to protect and nurture our urban habitat. Today we work with conservationists, planners and building professionals to share our knowledge and expertise in biodiversity and land management for urban areas.

Our sloping habitat into Deptford Creek was installed in 2002 to recreate a natural feature of the Tidal Thames. Only 2% of the Tidal Thames’ edges in London remain natural, making this feature in our landscape a rarity.

The soft river bank edges provide a great habitat for plants, invertebrates and fish. Brownfield sites, once common across all of London, are a crucial habitat for wildlife. We have over 300 species of wildflowers on the site.