22nd July 2025
When Sally Wilton sold her business in 2006, she was looking for another challenge. The result combined her dream of running a cinema with creating an impressive global partnership that links two very different communities.
Sally and her team were responsible for opening the UK’s first community-run cinema and social enterprise, The Lexi, in Kensal Rise.
Around the same time, Sally and Dame Teresa Graham, the chairman of the Lexi, were invited to visit a sustainability project in South Africa. The Sustainability Institute funds a pioneering sustainable living and learning centre that supports children and their families in the Lynedoch region. The trip sparked an idea.
“We wanted very much to see whether it was possible to forge a link between a community in London and a community in South Africa,” Sally explained.
Using a social enterprise model to create sustainability
They combined both ideas, giving their local community a much-needed cinema and supporting the innovative work in South Africa. It was important for them to create something sustainable, as they didn’t want it to feel like they were constantly asking for donations. As a social enterprise, 100% of its profits are donated to good causes.
Building strong partnerships and sharing expertise
Over the last 20 years, they have built a strong partnership between the local community in Lynedoch and The Sustainability Institute. They attribute their success to listening. Often, people want to fund teachers or sponsor children, but they have steered away from this. As Teresa explained:
“It’s the unsexy bits, the overheads, that kill an organisation, because that’s what they can’t fund. You need to understand the organisation, be aware of what lies behind those overheads, and help to minimise them, where we can, using the business acumen that we’ve built up over the years. We listen to them, and they listen to us.”
The Lexi Cinema is an important local hub. It’s run by volunteers, offers support to the wider community, provides spaces for groups to meet, and is currently running a new initiative allowing local GPs to prescribe cinema tickets to patients who need to get out.
Twinning Kensal Rise and Lynedoch
Lynedoch’s links with Kensal Rise led to the two areas twinning. It’s also brought other opportunities, such as when local teacher contacted the charity in South Africa and arranged student exchanges, building a relationship between schools. Moreover, other Kensal Rise volunteers have visited the region to work on different projects.
Many of the young people supported by The Sustainability Institute are now adults. Sally explains:
“It’s a privilege for us. It is one of the most fantastic things I think I’ve ever been involved with in my life. We wanted to change lives, and we were happy to do it one child at a time. But now, we’re impacting the whole valley, which is wonderful.
“We’ve known the kids; we’ve watched them grow and develop over nearly two decades. And it’s immensely satisfying to see kids pulling themselves up by their bootstraps and making great lives for themselves and their kids. Many of their children are now going to the baby unit and nursery, so kids are getting fantastic input from birth.”
Some have graduated from university and are in well-paid employment – something that wouldn’t have been possible without the involvement of the charity.
Finding the right fit
When they initially set up, they were using another provider to transfer donations to the South African charity, but were later advised that Prism might be a better fit.
“The provider basically said, ‘We’re too big and too expensive for you, but there’s an outfit called Prism who we think will be a better fit.’ And it was just great because Prism were really interested in what we were doing,” explains Teresa. “They get below the skin – they want to read our impact reports, they visit us, and they introduce us to other people they think might help our project. We’ve met some really interesting people. It’s just different; it’s another world.”
This year, Prism celebrates 20 years of shaping the future of giving. We have raised over $1 billion for charitable causes around the world, working with changemakers like Sally and Teresa. If you would like to read more about the other inspiring people and projects we’ve supported, visit our spotlight section here.
