Can you tell us about this new vision for place based giving in London and how it came about?
Collectively, as a movement of place based giving schemes across London, we can build fairer, more inclusive places that we're all a part of and we're proud to call home. In a nutshell, that was the purpose of London’s first place based giving scheme that was set up in Islington 15 years ago by Cripplegate Foundation.
They knew they needed to do things differently to address the causes of deep-seated and entrenched poverty on their doorstep. Working in partnership with local people, businesses, and organisations was the only way to do it.
Fifteen years after the first giving scheme was set up, there are now 19 giving schemes across London, with a further four starting up. Along with Bedford Giving and Step Up Manchester, we all come together to share and learn through the London Funders’ Resource Hub for Place Based Giving.
Through our new shared vision, we simply articulated what place based giving means more strongly and in a way that more clearly sets out the shared ambitions we have for place based giving and how it can change local systems that are fairer and more equitable for residents.
To kick start this whole process, we carried out a literature review, analysing existing evidence and information about place based giving. The findings told us most of what we already knew – the fact that place based giving schemes are collaborative initiatives that address local priorities and so on. But we also wanted more perspectives, so we intentionally went out and explored these - communities, businesses and academic ones.
When you speak to members of local communities – the local business on your doorstep, a carer in the community or whoever – they understand the concept of giving, of giving time, expertise, skills, of reconnecting and having a say over decisions that affect their local areas. Hearing from community members involved in giving was the real inspiration. It reconnected us with our impact, with our end goal and what we’re trying to change.
Place based giving schemes want to create places that people feel proud to call home and where they feel they belong
And that's when we really started being inspired and understanding not only the transformative impact of place based work and the potential for it to transform people and places, but also the value of reciprocity and of redistribution and really of understanding giving in all its forms, which ultimately is what place based giving does. They’re such simple concepts, but as a movement we’ve ended up using very jargony, complex terminology that feels exclusive to practitioners.
In our new vision, we’ll now talk about places where justice drives every decision, residents shape what happens, communities are connected, and resources are shared fairly. Place based giving is part of a system that is redistributing wealth, redistributing opportunity and power, and reimagining new systems that are more equitable and just.
Hearing from community members involved in giving were the real inspiration. It reconnected us with our impact, with our end goal and what we’re trying to change.
Picking up on what you were saying about the vision’s focus on reciprocity and redistribution, what does that look like in a place based context?
In terms of reciprocity, for us, it's an acknowledgement of the proximity local giving schemes have to their communities and places and the two-way knowledge exchange that they’re part of nurturing. They are continuously engaging with local people - that might be through a local needs analysis, devolving decision making to local residents, funding local services or providing direct services like coaching or mentoring to their communities. Through these local initiatives, they’re able to mobilise community power and agency, strengthen community catalysts, and surface community champions.
And through this continuous engagement that they’re doing, they get to hear what communities need and want for themselves in their local places, so they develop these deep insights into what matters to local people and what they feel is best for their place.
Building that deep trust with local residents and through the mutual exchange of knowledge and resources, place based giving schemes are then using their position alongside the community to engage with local systems like the local voluntary and community sector, education, health, local government and businesses, so that they can address the needs of the community in a more joined-up way.
Place based giving schemes are changing the system at a local level to work for local people, ultimately influencing local systems. That’s the whole point about reciprocity.
In terms of redistribution, giving is about all forms of giving. It is about giving knowledge, relationships, physical assets, time, skills, connections, and place based giving schemes are finding new ways for resources to flow within their local area. For example, new ways for resources to flow to new groups of local people who haven’t had power or money to get involved in their local community before. This new vision emphasises that wealth is not just money, it is also about redistributing time and knowledge as well.
Giving is embedded in our history. If you look at our ancestors, that's how they formed relationships. It was all through this kind of reciprocity, this two-way exchange, it was about giving back to those in their family, those in the village, those in their wider networks. So, the vision is about recognising and bringing that to the surface.
As part of our current learning focus on place, we’re also interested in capturing learning from those working with a place based focus. Since you started your role at London Funders a year ago, what are some of the key lessons for you?
I think my biggest learning is just how different each place is. The key to successful place based work is strong relationships with local people. They’re the ones leading the transformation in their area. But because each place is uniquely different, those relationships will be very different depending on where you work.
What works in an inner London borough with a vibrant local infrastructure and big businesses on their doorstep, isn't necessarily going to work in an out-of-London borough where infrastructure might be more limited.
Equally, pride in place, can galvanise local giving. But not everyone is proud of where they live. Some places embrace diversity of people and perspectives, while others have to contend with deep-seated divisions and mistrust. So that was a big learning – the unique challenges and characteristics of each place.
Creating a shared vision that connects the uniqueness of each place has been challenging. One of the other big take aways is that we needed to acknowledge that every giving scheme sits on a spectrum within the place based giving system – some are fundamentally reimagining new systems through transformation, some are disrupting the status quo by revolutionising, some are reforming, they’re improving what already exists in a local area and others are replicating, they’re scaling proven solutions. So, the depth of change ranges from deep systemic change in places to surface-level changes in places. But each position has a role to play in the broader ecosystem of change, and they are important in their own right.
When we spoke to residents involved in place based giving, they spoke about reconnecting with their places. They spoke about becoming active and engaged citizens. They spoke about being empowered to make decisions that improve the places they live in. I remember one of our place based community members said, “my place made me, saved me and healed me”.
That is ultimately what it is, our place based giving movement is about mobilising communities at a grassroots level to act to strengthen their boroughs and make and lead the change they want to see, and that really comes out in this vision. We simply don’t see or hear enough about the transformative work that place based giving schemes are doing – how it’s impacting on people’s lives and local areas. That’s something we’re hoping to bring more to the surface through this new vision, including hearing more from communities about how place based giving has impacted them.
Place based giving is part of a system that is redistributing wealth, redistributing opportunity and power, and reimagining new systems that are more equitable and just.
And in terms of next steps for the resource hub, what's coming up?
We’re finalising the ‘North Star’ for our new vision, which is ultimately the destination for our collective place based giving movement.
We’re refining our key messages. We're illustrating the new theory of change and systems change framework that sits behind the new vision, so that we can easily present it, and we can encourage others to join us on this exciting and deeply meaningful journey of locally led change.
We'll be creating pathways to help giving schemes understand how they can work towards the vision, and that will include sharing learning about the work giving schemes are doing, particularly those that are transforming or revolutionising local systems. We will also be supporting giving schemes to evolve and move into new spaces so that they can move towards reimagining local systems that ultimately improve places for people.
We'll also be learning from and being inspired about place based systems change nationally and globally, and thinking more deeply about how we can better capture and articulate the difference we're making in our local places -really making sure that front and centre of this movement are our residents' voices, community voices, and those that live in places that they call their homes.
