What are some of the key areas you fund?
At Blagrave, we’re known for funding individual young people, alongside youth-led organisations, that are working to challenge and dismantle deep-rooted inequality in their communities.
We’ve recently launched a new strategy, Leading with Hope, that will see us keep our focus on young changemakers, but move it into a place-based model, focusing on deep, long-term investment in London, Birmingham and Portsmouth. In those places we’ll also be investing in the infrastructure and networks that support young changemakers to thrive, including investing in buildings - youth hubs - where young people and their communities can dream big and work together to drive the change they need. Our intention is that, over time, those buildings will become owned and governed directly by young people and their communities, meaning that they’ll stay in community, in perpetuity.
What’s something exciting that you’re currently working on?
We’re currently really excited about our new project in Barking & Dagenham. We’ve recently signed on the dotted line of an agreement with our inspirational partners, Barking & Dagenham Giving, and the Good Ancestor Movement, to create a community-led and, eventually, community-owned, youth hub in Barking.
The partnership grew out of deep shared values between all three partners, alongside the stars aligning for us all to be ready to move together now. From our perspective, we’ve launched our strategy to move towards community-owned and governed youth spaces in London. In Barking & Dagenham Giving’s Spaces + Places programme, local community members, or neighbourhood stewards, identified priorities for spending in the borough, and they had just spent 18 months exploring what community-owned assets the borough needed, considering more than 25 ideas before reaching a recommendation for a youth-led creative space. The Good Ancestor Movement has a mission to move resources and wealth towards a regenerative economy that works for everyone, and they have a growing interest in community land and property ownership.
Our shared vision is a space shaped by local young people who experience deep-rooted inequality, where they will genuinely lead the building’s design, use and future. It will be their home to create, organise, build enterprises, develop skills, connect with others, and/or whatever else their dreams might be.
What excites us about it isn't actually the building itself (although we can’t wait to hear the young people and community members start planning it); it's what the building could make possible. Barking & Dagenham has one of the youngest populations in the country, incredible community energy, and lots of brilliant activity already happening, but it’s also an area where communities face multiple barriers, and haven’t had many opportunities to decide what community assets and resources should be available to them. This hub, for us, represents the opportunity to drive genuine, community-led, measurable systemic change. And if we get it right, I think it could become a powerful example of what happens when young people and the wider community aren't just invited into the room - they design the room in the first place and then they own it.
What’s one piece of learning that you’d like to share with other London Funders’ members?
One of the biggest lessons from our work over the years has been that young people already have the ideas, passion and solutions they need to create meaningful change in their communities. Often what's missing is the resources, relationships, networks, confidence and space to make those ideas happen. We’d love other funders to recognise this, and to join us in this space.
What do you value most about being a part of London Funders?
We joined London Funders as we prepared to launch our new strategy, knowing that it’s always important to join up with the folks working alongside you, to make sure you can plan strategically around what others are doing, and share learning. However, we weren’t expecting the quality and relevance of the information and training that would be sent our way. Every week it seems there’s another training session that we can’t miss, or some policy update shared that’s critical to take note of. We’re impressed!
Looking ahead, share one thing that is on your radar. What should we prioritise as a network of funders?
Alongside the rise of divisive politics and the increasing atmosphere of intolerance that we’re currently experiencing, I'd love to see more of us thinking about the long-term infrastructure communities need to thrive.
There's always a lot of discussion about programmes and projects - which will remain important - but we’re increasingly interested in community spaces, local institutions, shared assets and the conditions that will allow communities to build power over decades, rather than funding cycles.
As funders, we should be asking ourselves: what will still be benefiting local people in 20, 40, 100 years' time because of the decisions we make today?That's a question we're spending a lot of time with at Blagrave.
What’s an issue or area you’d like to discuss with other members?
Do we have to stick to one?! We’re at the start of a long journey and we still have so much to learn. We'd love to talk with other funders who can talk to us about the successes and pitfalls of:
- Community stewardship and governance of assets
- The practical realities of supporting community-owned spaces
- How we move from participation to genuine shared decision-making
- Funding approaches that support long-term place-based change
Connect with us about:
- Youth-led change
- Place-based funding
- Community wealth building and community assets
- Participatory decision-making involving young people
- Anti-oppressive practice
- Climate justice
The Member Spotlight is taken from our monthly member-exclusive newsletter, the Member Memo. The newsletter contains targeted information about upcoming events and updates from across the membership, with opportunities to connect and collaborate with other members. If you are a London Funders' member and would like to sign up, please email [email protected].