A Lewisham-based organisation that helps people build affordable homes is looking for the public to help them get a grant.

The Rural Urban Synthesis Society, RUSS, is looking to secure a £5,000 grant from the Aviva Community Fund to help continue its project.

Its first project is to help aspiring builders erect 33 affordable homes in Ladywell, due to start in 2018 and should be completed in 2020.

Thanks to a crowdfunder earlier in the year, RUSS managed to raise more than £50,000 from 326 backers for its project.

RUSS’ model involves convincing councils and other landowners to donate land into a community land trust for locals to build the homes.

The organisation then trains communities through workshops so they can build the affordable homes themselves.

The crowdfunder raised enough money for RUSS to build the community hub, but now the organisation needs to fill the building.

To run the workshops, RUSS needs the grant from Aviva to equip their hub with furniture, electronics and tools.

A spokesman from RUSS said: “We plan to run at least six courses in the hub during 2018, and each of these is expected to attract 30-40 attendees. Collectively this means we could train up around 200 other community organisations.

“If each of these community groups is then able to progress their own community-led housing project, in time this could lead to 2,000 to 5,000 additional affordable homes being built across the UK.

“Aviva's support in 2018 would also enable RUSS to run a similar programme of courses in future years too – so the impact could be even greater.”

RUSS signed a development agreement with Lewisham Council in April 2016 for a ‘community-led, affordable, self-build housing development’ in a derelict former school and industrial site at Church Grove in Ladywell, Lewisham.

To vote for RUSS to get the funding, go to avivacommunityfund.co.uk/voting/project/view/17-2894