London is a deeply unequal city. Home to some of the wealthiest people in the world, living side-by-side with millions who struggle to just get by.
Over the last year, we’ve been speaking to experts with lived, learned and practical experience to ask the question: how can we use our limited resources to tackle poverty in London?
Our 2030 grant funding strategy is the result of this work. It sets out our vision for London and what we aim to fund. It builds upon our previous strategy, maintaining our focus on the underlying issues driving poverty in London.
These issues are entrenched: low-pay, inadequate social security, the cost of living, racial injustice, disability injustice, and the unfairness of our immigration system. It will take decades to overcome them.
But we’re committed to long-term change. Our strategy sets out what progress might look like by 2030, but we know we could be working on the same issues in 2040, or 2050.
We are extremely grateful to all of those who have helped us get to this point. Thank you for sharing your time and wisdom.
Our 2030 Strategy
We need a fairer city where everyone has the chance to succeed, no matter who they are. To achieve this, we’ll fund hundreds of organisations that are fighting for economic and social justice in our city.
These two aims – economic and social justice – are the cornerstone of our new strategy. Sitting under each of them are several priority areas, which set out what we want to fund over the next six years.
Economic justice
Too many Londoners struggle because of the city’s unsustainable cost of living. Our economic justice funding aim is about ensuring Londoners on low incomes can afford a decent standard of living.
This means focusing on changes that increase people’s incomes and reduce their costs.
By 2030, we want to see a London where:
- Significantly more employers in London provide decent pay and conditions, and workers have a voice in the issues that affect them
- Social security provides enough to ensure that Londoners, including children, never go without the necessities of life, such as housing, food, clothing, and heating
- There is a comprehensive government strategy to solve the housing crisis, informed by the experiences of low-income Londoners
- The poverty premium – the extra costs faced by people in poverty - is on the way to be eradicated.
Social Justice
A fairer economy will help many Londoners escape poverty. But even then, some people will be unjustly held back by the way our society works.
Our social justice funding aim will focus on tackling injustices that lead to some Londoners being disproportionately affected by poverty.
Factors like their class, disability, sexuality, ethnicity, gender, or sex intersect to create complex challenges. We’ll play close attention to these factors across all our work, but our programme specifically focuses on migrant justice, racial justice and disability justice.
By 2030, we want to see a London where:
- The immigration system supports migrants out of destitution and shifts from the hostile environment to supporting people’s settlement
- There is a vibrant, diverse and sustainable disability justice movement that champions the needs of Deaf and Disabled Londoners
- Black and minoritised communities and households have increased incomes and wealth
Our approach: strategic philanthropy
Our approach is probably best described as strategic philanthropy. We have a clear mission to help eradicate poverty in London. We’re setting out what we hope to achieve by 2030 in pursuit of our mission, whilst not defining exactly how we will achieve it. For this, we open the door to those whose wisdom and ingenuity eclipses ours.
There are some parameters that will guide our funding. We will continue to champion lived experience, whilst recognising that change requires alliances that draw upon a broad spectrum of expertise. We’ll therefore work with ecosystems of community organisations, research and policy bodies, and campaigners, and open up spaces for organisations to connect where they do not already exist.
We will aspire to be the best of partners. This means being open, thoughtful and flexible as we tackle entrenched challenges together. When our collective endeavours fail, we’ll see it as an opportunity to learn. We will use our power with care and share it with others.
What next?
I’m excited to say that we’re now open for funding applications. And under our new strategy there won’t be any deadlines – we're accepting applications on a rolling basis*.
But if you’re thinking about applying, please make sure you read through our funding guidelines and book a call with us to discuss your ideas.
We're also holding a webinar on 27 June, where you'll have a chance to learn more about our funding strategy, and ask any questions.
*Our disability and racial justice funds operate a little differently. If you’re interested in funding under one of these areas, visit the relevant webpage, and note that disability justice is currently closed to applications.
