Everyone Included.
Residents are investing in the future of Barking and Dagenham to make a more hopeful, connected place.
The Place
A borough full of ideas, ambition and possibility.
Barking and Dagenham has shaped Britain.
From the Ford factory that secured livelihoods for generations, to the Dagenham women whose strike helped secure equal pay, hosting the 2012 Olympics along with 5 other boroughs, and the naming of the Suffragette Line to honour Barking resident, Annie Huggett, this is a place where change happens.
Today, it is one of London's youngest boroughs, one of its most diverse, and one of its most entrepreneurial. It is home to entrepreneurs, creatives and people determined to build a better future. But talent isn’t enough.
The Ford factory in Dagenham
The Equal Pay Act 1970
Annie Huggett, the longest surviving Suffragette
Joint hosts of the 2012 Olympics
London-wide funding
The map below details the per capita distribution of funding in London between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2025. While the GrantNav(opens in new tab) data comes with some caveats, such as being reliant on where recipients are based rather than where they are delivering support, these can only partially explain the colossal gulf that exists between inner and outer London Boroughs, and between East and West. We want to see a more equitable distribution of funding, to ensure that everyone who calls London home shares in its prosperity and generosity.
As a community-led funder and social investor, we’re bringing money into the borough and ensuring local people have a genuine say in the decisions and investments that shape their lives.
The Idea
Because the people who live here know best what this borough needs.
We’re changing how money works in communities. Because the people affected by funding decisions should be involved in making them.
When communities have decision-making power, they create better solutions.
With us, residents shape investment policies, design funding programmes, steward community assets and influence the future of their borough.
This way of working is about more than money. It’s about connections, confidence, and hope.
The Movement
Everyone included
Everyone included
Residents shape investment
Local people help decide how millions of pounds are invested in Barking and Dagenham.
Entrepreneurs seed the future
Local businesses and social enterprises access funding, support and investment through GROW.
Communities shape places
Residents help decide how community spaces and assets should be developed and used
Organisations work together
We strengthen the borough's social infrastructure through partnerships, networks and collaboration.
Ideas travel beyond the borough
Our work is attracting interest from funders, investors, policymakers and communities across the UK who want to learn from Barking and Dagenham.
The Impact
Community participation isn't
about consultation. It's about
Building relationships
Learning together
Sharing decision-making
Building trust and taking power.
Together, we create something bigger than any one programme or organisation could achieve on its own. We're building a future where local people decide what happens next, and where everyone is included.
972+
residents involved in decision-making
£2.4 M
community
endowment
stewarded through
resident-led processes
32
local enterprises
funded
105
distinct organisations
& groups funded
252
grants made