Redthread started in 1995 as a group set up by parishioners from a number of local churches in Dulwich. These individuals felt that local children and young people could be more involved in the local community, if given the facilities and activities to be so. They are no longer formally linked with the churches but Redthread is still grounded in the Christian ethos – a belief in the value of each and every human being, together with a recognition of the fundamental importance of building a community where people take responsibility for each other.

One of the first projects was the Redthread Youth Club, based at the Sea Scout Hut in Green Dales. The club formed a central part of the local community and saw over a hundred young people a week gather to take part in a range of games and activities and to socialise with friends.

It was in 2002 that Redthread ventured into the world of health for the first time, by running the country’s first ever Young People’s Clinic in partnership with Paxton Green Group Practice. The after school Tuesday drop-in gave all 13-19-year-olds, whether registered or not, access to a doctor, nurse, counsellor or youth worker. After this success, the model was replicated at Herne Hill Group Practice in 2005.