Charity Team Building in London: Where It Runs, What Works and What It Costs

London has more team building options than anywhere in the country, and most of them are the same three things wearing different names. A bar, a boat, an escape room. All of them involve moving a whole team across town at five o'clock, and none of them leave anything behind.

We started in 2011 with 34 bikes for a charity in East London, and we have run charity builds across the capital ever since. It is the only thing we do, and more than 60,000 people have taken part.

This guide covers where in London it runs, why London teams book it, the events they choose most, how it fits a London working day, what it costs, and the one London specific question, which is space. The shortlist is on our London page.

Where in London does charity team building run?

Wherever you already have a room. We run events in the City, Canary Wharf, the West End and everywhere in between, and a meeting room on a Canary Wharf floor works as well as a hotel function room in Mayfair.

That is the first thing London teams notice. Nobody has to get on the Jubilee line at half past five. The build comes to the building, our crew sets up before your team walks in, and the charity collects from the same room.

We deal with the venue directly on access, timings and floor protection, so you are not passing messages between us and building management.

Why do London teams book a charity build?

Everyone has a job. A build cannot be finished by three keen people while the rest watch, so the people who usually stand at the side with a drink are the ones who end up holding a frame.

It works for a mixed floor. There is no fitness element and nothing that puts an individual on the spot, so partners and juniors, or a sales team and a finance team, take part on the same terms. In London, where the team day is often the only time those people are in the same room, that matters more than it does elsewhere.

The report gets a figure, not an adjective. Five bikes, a named London charity, a date. That is what the person who signed off the budget needs, and it goes straight into an ESG report. Our ESG report guide explains how to write that up.

Which events do London teams book most?

Charity Bike Build. Parts are earned through challenges, and a bike is built from them. Our mechanics check every bike, and each goes, with a helmet, lock, lights and pump, to someone leaving a hostel, a young carer or a family with no car. Over 3,000 bikes have gone to charity this way since 2011. Runs for 8 to 2,000 people and takes about two and a half hours. See the Charity Bike Build.

Scooter Dash. Fifty minutes on the clock to build a scooter and get it through a safety check. It fits inside a meeting, and the scooters go to a local children's charity the same day. 10 to 500 people. See Scooter Dash.

OnBoard. Two skateboard decks per team, one for custom artwork and one templated. Over 1,700 boards have gone to children and young carers living in poverty. It is calm, creative work and it suits a smaller London office. 6 to 500 people. See OnBoard.

Which events suit a bigger London moment?

The Great Philanthropic Challenge runs six Crystal Maze style challenges, and each one won drops another item into a care package. Because the receiving charity writes the list, nothing in a pack is guesswork. 631 delivered so far, and it runs for 8 to 2,000 people, which makes it the other choice for a whole company day.

The Performance Wheelchair Challenge has teams assemble sports wheelchairs and then compete in them. The chairs go to inclusive clubs and SEND schools, 346 have been donated, and it is the strongest single donation in the range for a report. 10 to 300 people.

How does it fit into a London working day?

Inside the day, usually. Most London teams run a build after lunch rather than after work. Two hours, then back to the desk or on to drinks, with nobody staying late and nobody crossing town.

Inside a conference, Scooter Dash fits a one hour gap in the agenda and works alongside your AV. The Bike Build carries a whole afternoon. Our event planning page covers how we work with organisers.

Before the Christmas do, the build sits in the gap before dinner or drinks, in the room you already booked. Our Christmas team building guide covers the December specifics.

Is there enough space in a London office?

This is the one London specific question, and the honest answer is usually yes, but tell us the room size when you enquire.

London rooms are often tighter than elsewhere. OnBoard and the Hand Project need tables and not much else. The Bike Build needs floor space for the frames and the challenges. If an event needs more floor than you have, we will say so plainly and suggest one that fits, rather than turning up and finding out.

How much does charity team building cost in London?

No different from anywhere else in the UK. Location does not change the price, and there is no London surcharge.

Pricing is one figure for the whole group, by size band, with the crew, the kit and the donated equipment all inside it. To give you a feel: up to 12 people on OnBoard is £1,779 excluding VAT, the same group on Scooter Dash is £2,212, and the Charity Bike Build is £3,388 for up to 16 people with two bikes donated, rising to £4,703 for up to 40 with five.

Every band for every event is in our charity team building prices guide. Tell us a headcount and roughly where in London, and you will have a price in a minute. Get a price.

Which London charities receive what you build?

It depends on the event and on what your business cares about. The bikes go to people moving out of hostels, to young carers, and to families without a car. The scooters go to a children's charity nearby. Skateboards go to youth projects and young carers. The care packages go to whoever the charity that wrote the list has in mind.

We match you to a charity that fits, and if you already have a London charity partner, the Great Philanthropic Challenge lets them write the list. Wherever we can, the charity collects in front of your team, on the day.

How to book charity team building in London

1. Count the room. A headcount you are fairly sure of and a date you are less sure of is fine. 2. Measure the room. In London this is the question that matters. Let us know how big it is and we will check the event fits. 3. Get the three that fit. Get a price: three events that fit, with figures, in about a minute. 4. Tell building management we are coming. Everything else, we arrange with the venue directly. 5. Turn up. We are set up before your team walks in.

The bottom line

London has no shortage of places to take a team. What it has fewer of is afternoons that leave something behind and do not involve crossing town at rush hour. A charity build leaves a row of bikes, or a stack of skateboards, with a London charity that needed them, and gives your team a story with a number in it.

It runs in the room you already have, it fits inside a working day, and it costs the same as it would anywhere else. The only London specific question is how big your room is.