Resource hub: Supporting Londoners through the cost of living crisis

Reports & blogs 

• London Community Foundation on what they are hearing from their networks them about how the crisis is impacting communities already experiencing disadvantage and poverty. Read it here. 
• London Borough of Newham on how funders and local authorities can work together to support residents during the cost of living crisis. Read it here. 
• London Funders' blog on why being open and trusting grantmakers is more important than ever. Read it here. 
• Research from Trust for London shows increasing the London Weighting is “vital to help Londoners through the cost of living crisis”. Read it here.
• Pro Bono Economics report on charities and the cost of living crisis, available here.
• Research from the Legatum Institute finds that London has the highest poverty rate in the country, in large part due to the increasing cost of living. Read the report here.
• Report from the Food Aid Network explores the impact of poverty and food banks on mental health with research conducted in London and Kent, available here.

Appeals set up to deal with the cost of living crisis  

• London Community Response - Together for London: cost of living appeal. More information available here.  

• The Felix Project - Empty Plate Emergency Appeal. More information available here. 

If you are a funder looking to work with others around the cost of living at a local level, check out details of the activity underway and get in touch with your local place-based giving scheme, as they may be able to distribute funding on your behalf to groups who need it most.  

• Islington Giving have launched their Islington Crisis Appeal. Funding from this appeal will be used by partners to provide financial help, alongside support and advice to ensure residents in financial distress can get the right help for the issues they are facing  

• Lewisham Local has launched a Cost of Living appeal to ask those who can afford it, to donate some of their council tax energy rebate to help others in the borough.  

• The Kensington and Chelsea Foundation’s Winter Appeal will support residents who need help with fuel payments or cash for essential items.  The appeal will also offer specialist advice from local partners.  

• Hackney Giving have launched a cost of living appeal which will offer grants to cover food and other necessities, contribute towards utility bills or provide meals in a community setting. Funds can also be used for after-school and holiday provisions. They are inviting local businesses to take part.  

• Harrow Giving has launched a campaign to help fund Warm Hubs with Avia. Donations will go to  hot meals, practical saving energy costs, wellbeing sessions and more. 

• Merton Giving’s Building Resilience fund is providing short-term funding (up to 12 months) and will focus on addressing issues identified as those needing support in the borough in addition to those vulnerabilities arising and exacerbated by the economic crisis.  

• At Camden Giving, they are turning around applications for food banks in less than 2 weeks with a regular participatory grantmaking programme. They are also developing a programme to support projects that tackles longer terms structural inequalities alongside the urgent costs faced by those in the borough. 

• Barking and Dagenham Giving 'Fuel Up' campaign seek to help community members in need and are encouraging those who can to donate some or all of their monthly £67 government energy rebate that is being sent to every household. Donations will be used to provide vouchers to those in need, through the BD Collective’s Food Network, a network that supports 20 local organisations that provide essential food and other necessities to vulnerable residents.

Actions funders can take

• We heard from charities and community groups during our Cost of Living Week that what they want to see from funders right now is flexibility and trust to 'get on with the job'. To build on this and the positive steps funders took during the pandemic, we encourage all our members  Sign up to IVAR’s eight commitment on funding in an open and trusting way here. 

• Join our ongoing funder collaboration Propel, which aims to provide long-term, flexible support to London's civil society. Read more about that here. 

• Become a Living Wage Funder, you can read more about how to become one here.

• Publish your cost of living grants on 360Giving's tracker here. This will help us understand better the collective response to the cost of living crisis. 

• Contribute to the functionality of funding portal helping individuals: Lighting Reach is a free online portal that connects individuals to financial support available from various sources, quickly and securely - all in one place. This may include grants from charities, local council funding or support with utility bills. The portal is open for direct applications from individuals. You can signpost people to the portal so they can discover what support is available to them here.

  
  Lightening Reach are starting to work on developing the functionality to enable support organisations to apply on behalf of clients, and are working closely with a range of local authorities, charities and housing associations to do this. If you would be interested to participate in testing the functionality or using this feature when it becomes available, please contact hannah@lightningreach.org

Data sources

• NPC and Trussell Trust are working together by adding Trussell Trust’s food parcel data to NPC’s Local needs databank. You can explore the data here.
• Recent polling from Centre for London shows that one in three Londoners are struggling to make ends meet, more details here.
• Centre for London has also developed a data resource where you can view the different challenges each of London’s boroughs are facing – from statistics on poverty, living costs, education, and more -  and how they compare to each other. View it here.
• Citizen's Advice dashboard shares insights from across their service on how the crisis is affecting clients.. View it here. 

Other relevant information

• In April, we hosted an insight meeting on the cost of living crisis with members, you can find the data and insights shared in this meeting here.
• Third Sector’s podcast on charities are impacted by the cost of living crisis and how they are responding to support communities, available here.
• Read reflections on funders’ role in addressing the cost of living from Nick Addington, Chief Executive of the William Grant Foundation here.
• The Cost of Living Alliance works to build an evidence base of what is happening with the cost of living crisis across the UK and define clear areas where changes by government and power holders could make the most change to grassroots communities. You can find out more about them and resources here.