Place is also a helpful entry point to understanding the dynamics and drivers of the issues which affect communities. In London this plays out in a city of extremes - alongside being home to some of the most profitable businesses and developed infrastructure in the world, the capital is also a place of stark inequality. Figures from our member, Trust for London show that 10% of people with the highest wealth hold 44% of London’s total net wealth. Every London borough has a higher level of pay inequality than the rest of England. People from black and minoritised ethnic groups are far more likely to be in poverty (34%) than white people (17%).
For funders, the lens of place can help us better understand the dynamics of local communities and how investment can interact with the other conditions which are critical for a place to truly thrive. But what do we really mean by place, and why is it particularly relevant right now?
Place-based funding is about more than just geography. It’s a deliberate approach to understanding the relationships, power structures, and lived experiences within a community
In London, where communities are transient and diverse, framing our work in place can help different actors to work more holistically and collaboratively—leveraging local knowledge, building meaningful partnerships, and ensuring that funding aligns with the real needs of residents.
The government’s agenda for devolution and public service reform both offer opportunities for funders and others to rethink what structures are needed to enable investment to flow into local communities and the places which need it. And they also offer an important opportunity to reset where power sits, so that communities can genuinely shape the agenda and have more control over decision making.
Many of London Funders’ members have long used place as a framework for how they fund – the London’s Giving movement have been putting more funding and decision-making in the hands of local people for the past decade and with our new Resource Hub well underway, place-based funding in London is challenging existing systems at a local level, making places fairer and more equitable for local people.
As place moves up the national policy agenda, it feels like now is the time to use our collective expertise and experience to shape the debate for how we invest and support local places to thrive. To help us do this, London Funders’ learning focus for the next few months will hone in on how our thinking about place can help us tackle some of London’s biggest challenges and lessen the extremes of inequality that exists in our city.
London Funders’ have long championed the importance of place, contributing to the national and global conversation about the importance of place, local voices and cross-sector collaboration to create systemic change. For the next few months, we hope to add to this body of work - supporting funders to explore and learn from their place-based approaches while also contributing to conversations going on in the wider policy landscape about investing in place and devolving power to local people.
If you’re doing work which you’d like to share around place – get in touch! There are opportunities to share what you're learning as part of this current programme as well as via our local networks, and upcoming Festival of Learning.