The Extraordinary Everyday

Annual Report 2018/19

Welcome

They say it takes a village to raise a child, well this past year has shown it will take a city to tackle youth violence. London remains a comparatively safe, gloriously diverse and welcoming city. But its disparities are showing, and growing, and young lives are being tragically wasted. So, can a city come together? Our partnership with the Evening Standard through the Dispossessed Fund’s Save London Lives initiative is showing what is possible. So far, a collective response from government, corporate and individual philanthropy has come together to help build a resilient grassroots response to youth violence. At the time of this report, over £2.1 million has been raised and with it, a defiant belief in how communities, and young people, must sit at the heart of the solution.

The diversity of The London Community Foundation’s (LCF) supporter base is one of the most uplifting features of our work. Public funds, corporate and private philanthropy all proudly demonstrating an unwavering belief in what small charities and community groups can do for communities. This year we will have committed over £9.5 million in grants, thanks to the people and organisations who support our work. But, as the statistics and stories from organisations here tell, their essence and survival are under threat. Met by increasing – and increasingly complex – need, the capital’s grassroots organisations are facing relentless competition for funding, at a time when giving to London-serving charities is falling. And a dearth of long-term funding to support even the basics, like salaries, rent … just keeping the lights on. This Annual Review coincides with the launch of Voices from the Frontline, our largest engagement survey of London’s grassroots in five years. You can read more of its key insights in the following pages.

You can’t build trust and change fragile lives by just surviving hand to mouth, year in year out as a community group or small charity. And so, at LCF, we will raise the bar in championing the need for long-term philanthropy for the organisations whose ambition is not to replicate, diversify or scale, but to go deeper into the communities they serve and be the anchor for the people who need their support the most. As the team here at LCF knows, we are surrounded by incredible examples of community groups, the impact stars working just on your doorstep. You may not be using their services, but your neighbourhood would be lost without them.

Money alone does not change lives. But the stories here show that by combining funds with local knowledge, deeply-earned trust and a belief that things can change, incredible things do happen.

Kate Markey, Chief Executive, The London Community Foundation

Who we are

The London Community Foundation exists to help build strong and connected communities.

We do this by inspiring London’s generosity to invest in small charities and community groups. To date we have raised over £100 million to support London’s grassroots organisations.

As a result of funding we received from LCF, we started working with new organisations and have gone on to win further funding from others to work with them.

Key highlights for 2018/19

1,240 Grants awarded

£9,521,926 Value of grants committed

£13,377 Average grant size

Image of 3 people standing on tennis court smiling

£132,000 Median income of the organisations we supported

220,988 Londoners will be reached

Compared to 17/18

Compasred to the years 2017 to 2018, there is a: 16% increase in grants commited, a 21% increase in average grant size, and a 33% increase in value of grants committed.

Beneficiary analysis

Voices from the frontline

What we did

Understanding the needs of the grassroots organisations we invest in and helping our supporters increase their philanthropic impact is important to us. So, over the last year, we have undertaken work to review our grant making to ensure it is as impactful and supportive as possible.

In November 2018, we commissioned the largest survey in LCF’s recent history and spoke with organisations in our network through focus groups. We received 201 responses to the survey (an almost 12% response rate) and 35 participants took part in focus groups.

We did this to:

Listen to what matters to grassroots organisations working in London’s communities and understand their needs.
Reflect the wider operating environment for grassroots organisations.
Evidence the impact of our grant making to ensure we are supporting our donors to give effectively.
Understand grassroots organisations’ experience of working with LCF to see what’s working and areas to improve on.

"LCF gave us our first opportunity. We may not be in existence without them.”

“We were able to pilot new things, which shows the funder believes in us”

The 5 most frequent words used to describe LCF were:

Supportive
Helpful
Community
Friendly
Accessible

The capital's biggest issues

We asked survey respondents to indicate what they thought London’s most pressing issues were over the next five years. The below chart indicates the percentage of respondents who ranked each issue in their top three.

What type of organisations does LCF support?

Number of paid staff

Full-time equivalent paid staff (FTE)

Where do they work?

What next?

These findings help shine a light on what it means to be a grassroots organisation operating in London right now and will feed in to how we can continue to improve our service to groups and our supporters.

Over the next 12 months, we will continue to evidence the compelling and intimate role grassroots organisations play in London by exploring these findings further in a blog series, Voices from the Frontline.

londoncf.org.uk/blog/voices-from-the-frontline

Top funding priorities

Funding Priorities - 74% of people indicated increasing core funding was their top priority over the next year, 59% want to diversify their fundraising sources, 54% want funding assistance by being connected to other funders, 25% wanted capacity building support, and 52% indicated a need to better demonstrate their impact

LCF’s model is really important to the sector and we don’t know anyone else like it.

Case studies

The extraordinary everyday

Photo of Anne from The Manna holding a coffee cup in a garden.

Anne The Manna

Case study

Anne

The Manna

Starting with just a loaf of bread and a battered teapot, the Manna opened its doors to people facing homelessness in Islington 30 years ago. Their local connections and small size help make them successful but can also bring their own difficulties, and the day to day demands of running the organisation can be challenging. Anne, who has been there from the beginning(and still uses that very same teapot!), shares her story.

We are a local solution to a local challenge. Thirty years ago, I was part of a group from a local church that met to find the best way to respond to the needs of people around us who would knock on the vicarage door and ask for food and money. We felt the solution was to welcome people in and get to know them to understand the best way to help. Today we feed over 200 people a week and have over 400 users with a team of three part-time staff and numerous dedicated volunteers.

The best way to describe a typical day at the Manna is ‘frenetic’. There are lots of demands and requests coming at us all at once, none of them unreasonable and all important. Our open-access drop-in sessions where users can access food, showers and laundry have us run ragged – the clear-up and the admin get pushed to one side for when calm is restored. The sheer number of people can be challenging – on a Tuesday evening we have at least 120 people to feed. But our cook is brilliant and somehow there is always enough for everyone.We also juggle these core services with our advocacy work, accompanying people to appointments, shopping for supplies and planning the next outing. There is a huge variety and it’s never boring.

Today we feed over 200 people a week and have over 400 service users with a team of three part-time staff and numerous dedicated volunteers.

I also struggle with financial anxieties. Much of our work is not glamorous and doesn’t produce instant results so there are a limited number of possible funding sources. But the utility bills and rent must be paid so if we get a grant with no particular strings attached, we can spend it in the area where it is most needed, and it enables me to spend more time supporting users rather than fundraising.

But our small size also has its perks and allows us to build lasting relationships with users – we know most of them by name. All our staff and volunteers are local and know the borough and its services. Being local gives us a deeper understanding of our users’ lives and challenges. We meet users in the streets from day to day and always share greetings.

It also means that we can be responsive to needs of our users. It was through listening to them that we started our Wednesday activities of art, poetry, gardening, and our Thursday outings. By giving our users an input, they come to see the Manna as their community and the respect it. These activities are all about treating people holistically as community members rather than as problems to be solved. And it really works. The most hard-to-reach people come to us. We don’t squeeze people into tick boxes that are not right for them. We care about the whole individual and have the knowledge and resources to tackle their needs from all angles.

My proudest moment so far has been being invited to the “passing out” ceremony of one of our clients who became a London Cabbie. We worked with him for 10 years to get to this point, ever since he told us his ambition. At the time he was in debt and in trouble and couldn’t even drive – but that didn’t stop him or us!

Working Together

Supporting small, local organisations is at the core of what LCF does. Understanding the challenges they can face in delivering their vital services, we aim to support them to be able to continue to do what they do best by making the grant-making process as accessible as possible. We first supported the Manna in 2006 and this year awarded them a grant of £5,000 towards core costs, which has eased some anxiety on their tight budget and helped them to continue to provide a community for homeless people to belong to.

Photo of jay looking at the camera by a window

Jay Element

Case study

Jay

Element

Every year, around 10,000 young people leave the care system in England. Without the emotional support of a family, they can struggle with low self-esteem, isolation and mental health difficulties. But one organisation, Element, sees the potential in young people and provides care leavers with a safe haven to develop a positive sense of identity and improve wellbeing and creativity using art. One such young person, Jay*, picked up the phone and proactively got in touch with Element.

*Jay is a pseudonym

I didn’t have any expectations for my first Element session, but I was nervous. I was nervous because I’m usually scared of people wherever I go. But what made me feel less scared was finding things I had in common with other people. Even small things, like realising there were other people who also didn’t eat meat, made me feel more comfortable.

I ended up doing a full project with Element last year, which was six weeks long. I was already good at art, but the sessions gave me time to practice, share my thoughts and explore my artistic self-expression.

I created a portfolio of work, and at the end of the project it was displayed at a showcase event at the V&A where I spoke in front of an audience of more than 50 people. This was a proud moment for me because when I first started at Element, I didn’t even make eye contact sometimes.

One of my favourite sessions was creating a self-portrait. I liked having the freedom to do whatever I wanted inside the head. Some people put chocolate inside of theirs but mine had teeth and rotting flesh. At the time, I felt rotten inside, so I drew it. Sometimes I still feel that way, but I do feel more positive than a year ago.

Being in care and spending a few years away from your family can be painful. I’ve felt stressed about it a lot of the time, and it can be hard to overcome that and change. I don’t always feel like I want to change – but I’m trying to avoid feeling like that. Regardless of the support, you have to actually want the change yourself. It’s a slow and steady process, and it’s good to have support around me.

I spoke in front of an audience of more than 50 people. This was a proud moment for me because when I first started at Element, I didn’t even make eye contact sometimes.

I feel like I’ve made friends here at Element, I feel like I belong. It’s helped me with my social skills, encouraged me to do more, meet new people, and accept people from different backgrounds. Before I got involved, I was feeling nervous all the time, and that has improved. I feel more confident and I’m doing more art than I used to do.

Now I come to drop-in sessions every two weeks and make loads of different types of art and go to theatre shows. I’m experimenting with puppets right now because I’m interested in puppets and comedy! I also see my friends from Element and get support from staff on goals for the future. I’m also in college two days a week and attending a gardening placement one day a week. I’ve also always had an interest in comics – I used to draw a lot of DC Comics and Marvel stuff, so I’ve created a magazine. It includes some quite personal things, but overall it’s very positive. It was difficult to make the first one because I usually bottle a lot of stuff in, so I’m pleased to have one now.

As for my plans for the future, I’m just taking one day at a time. That’s all I can do. I’m just going to carry on and see where it all goes.

Working Together

We are dedicated to investing in London’s children and young people. With increased cuts to local authority youth services, it is often community-based organisations like Element that are filling a gap in services and offering a holistic, person centred service where young people are supported to reach their full potential and thrive. Last year LCF supported Element with core funding that has invested in them as a small team and supported them in their strategic plans for expansion.

Photo of Veronica in a classroom looking at the camera

Veronica English for Action

Case study

Veronica

English for Action

English for Action (EFA) language classes have always focused on more than learning English. Their support goes beyond the classroom, using free ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes to enable migrants to access other financial and social support to lead fulfilling lives in London. Holding their classes in locations like schools or community centres to reach people close to where they live and work, English for Action brings people together to improve wellbeing and build lasting friendships.

When Veronica first came to London, she didn’t speak any English. And when she found EFA seven years ago, she quickly learned it was more than just a classroom.

Coming to London had been a dream of mine since I was 13 years old. So, when I was 19, I left Ecuador on my own, first travelling to Spain and living there for two years before reaching London.

It was scary. I wasn’t scared to go to Spain because it was the same language and I have family there. But I was scared to come here because I was worried about the language. I knew no English – I was saying ‘good morning’ even if it was evening! It’s not easy coming to a country where you don’t speak the language because it is important for everything – for communicating with other people, to find better jobs, even to go to the shop.

The only person I knew was a woman I had met in Spain, who helped me get work as a chambermaid. It was a very hard job and didn’t give me the opportunity to practice English. But I was thinking all the time that I wanted to go for something more, and the only way to do something different was to learn English.

At EFA, the teacher has the time and patience to spent 10, 15 minutes with you after class. They have the passion to teach people.

I was first introduced to EFA when my daughter started school and I was told about free English classes with a creche for babies. I didn’t have enough money to pay to have anyone look after my son while my daughter was in school – so having him sit in a buggy next to me during the class helped me a lot. To be honest, I think that was the best opportunity I had in my life here.

I had already taken another English course at this point, but I preferred EFA. It’s a nice environment to study there. It’s friendly and fun and the teachers are dedicated. At other courses, you finish a lesson and you have to leave right away. But sometimes you have doubts or questions. At EFA, the teacher has the time and patience to spent 10, 15 minutes with you after class. They have the passion to teach people. I’ve been able to study with the same teacher – he’s maybe missed three classes all these years! He’s an amazing person and always helps me.

I’ve also made friends with the other students. There are people from many different countries, and you learn a lot from the different cultures. We go on trips, which is nicer than just sitting in a classroom and gives us the opportunity to socialise more. Once, we took the boat to Greenwich to have a picnic. Everybody took food from their own country and we shared everything.

EFA has also helped me with my business. Four years ago, my husband and I decided we wanted to be more independent and we started a cleaning company. We started with one contract and that client was happy with our service and she started to recommend us by word of mouth. But I felt stuck trying to find a way to expand the business and went to my EFA teacher because I thought he could help. He told me about a charity that runs a free course to support people who have a business idea and I took that and it was amazing.

We now have seven members of staff and hope to continue to expand the company. Our dream is to give jobs to people who are new to London so that we can help them start out. Because people come here, and they don’t know where to start – like what happened to me. So many doors can be opened for you if you know English. This country is full of opportunities – you just need to find the right way to take them.

Working Together

Connecting people and communities is at the heart of many of the projects The London Community Foundation supports. We’re proud to have worked with the English for Action since 2012 and recently supported them with £5,000 towards providing free ESOL classes for older migrants, enabling them to continue this service.

Photo of Christian looking at the camera

Christian Unique Talent

Case study

Christian

Unique Talent

Crime was just a part of everyday life for Christian growing up. At 17 he went to prison and upon released, struggled to re-engage with society. But that all changed when he got a job working with young people and realised he could use his own experiences to help them.

A few years later, a chance encounter with some childhood friends led him to put this into practice by creating a new charity in South West London, Unique Talent. Here Christian learned how local knowledge, respect and trust go a long way in tackling youth violence.

I was raised in south London in one of the worst boroughs in terms of offending and poverty. It was a place where crime was almost normalised and I grew up seeing it, breathing it, doing it.

I ended up serving half of a five-year prison sentence. After being released, I applied to over 100 jobs. I was applying for everything, from McDonalds to warehouses but heard nothing back. It was demoralising and I felt very vulnerable.

I finally caught a break working as a support worker. Helping people who had come from a similar place as me felt natural, and has become a personal passion.

But it didn’t really hit home for me that I could put my personal experiences to use until I ran into four guys from my childhood at a training event, including one guy from a rival gang who I hadn’t seen eye to eye with. We ended up discussing our similar backgrounds and how we are living examples of people who have been affected by violence and thought we coulduse these experiences to make a difference and give back to our community.

Unique Talent was born from this discussion. We provide one-on-one support and workshops,and share real-life testimonies to help young people avoid life-changing mistakes. We also educate parents and professionals about how to best support young people to stay away from violence and crime.

Because of our experiences, young people relate to what we’re saying, and it really carries weight.

Because of our experiences, young people relate to what we’re saying, and it really carries weight. They are listening to it, soaking it up and taking it on board. When you can relate to someone it helps break barriers, gain trust and gets the conversation going. We get a lot of cases where social workers or youth workers can’t get a young person to open up about theirissues and we’ve been able to go in and get them to talk. I think the only way to get thatexclusive insight into why a young person carries a knife or is involved in gang crime is for the people with lived experience to share or talk to that young person.

Another key to our success is only working in areas we know. Having that local knowledge is important and I don’t think we would have the same impact elsewhere where we didn’t have that connection.

Despite our progress, one massive issue that makes it difficult to support our young people is inconsistent funding. We work with young people who are used to people coming in and out of their lives, so when services come in and out of their lives as well, they get disappointed and fed up. We can only make a real difference if we are there for the long term. We also need more opportunities for our young people, including apprenticeships, and a system that doesn’t discriminate against people that have made mistakes.

Working Together

Community-based organisations play a vital role in stemming the tide of youth violence. That’s why we’re committed to working with groups like Unique Talent and last year, supported them with their first large grant of £22,000. This has allowed them to not only deliver 42 gang and knife crime workshops, reaching more than 400 young people and over 125 parents and professionals but to improve their resilience as an organisation.

Testimonials

To mark our fifth anniversary, the Wimbledon Foundation has launched a new fund for the homeless. A Roof For All offers flexible core-funding to help local homelessness organisations develop strategic approaches to address this growing social issue over the next three years. We believe local voluntary organisations are best placed and have the expertise and commitment required to meet the complex social needs associated with homelessness.

Helen Parker, Head of Wimbledon Foundation

Grassroots community organisations provide vital services to many Londoners and are frequently the frontline in tackling some of the most difficult issues the city faces, yet they are also often over stretched, under resourced and gain limited recognition. By providing funding and capacity building support, we've seen the tremendous impact that can be achieved. Working with grassroots organisations is an investment in London's future.

Rachael Barber, Citi Community Development Head, EMEA

We enjoy working with LCF to support London's grassroots charities through the Cattermull Legacy Fund. We're now delighted to be able to increase the impact of our giving by pooling our grants with those of other donors through the Thrive in London Fund, giving together to help tackle homelessness and unemployment by supporting local charities that we believe are best placed to address these issues.

Janie Frazer and Paul Cattermull

Thank you

I would like to thank all our donors and partners who have worked with us over the last year to help build stronger communities across the capital by supporting grassroots London.

We are privileged to work with supporters who recognise the vital role locally embedded organisations and charities play in their communities and who understand the challenges they face every day. Together, we ensure funds are directed to where they are needed most.

Francis Salway, Chair

Why partner with The London Community Foundation?

The London Community Foundation is a trusted partner with a track record of delivering grants on behalf of a range of corporate, individual and public sector donors. From youth violence, to unemployment and from isolation, to homelessness, we work with our donors to reach under-the-radar local organisations they can support. We use our expertise and insight, as a grant maker – as well as our access to community leaders and policymakers – to help inform our philanthropic advice to London’s donors.

We provide professional fund management and grant-making services, providing donors with financial and impact reporting.

Talk to us about your giving at:

Individual
Yourphilanthropy@londoncf.org.uk

Corporate
Corporatephilanthropy@londoncf.org.uk

Talk to us about how we can support your clients’ giving: advisers@londoncf.org.uk

Contact

londoncf.org.uk

info@londoncf.org.uk

+44 (0)20 7581 5117

Twitter: @London_cf

Registered charity number 1091263
Company limited by guarantee number 438326

The London Community Foundation, Unit 1.04 Piano House, 9 Brighton Terrace, London, SW9 8DJ

Acknowledgements

Photography: Colum O’Dwyer

Design: Clear Honest Design