ProjectS > get involved > community steering group
Community Steering Group
The Community Steering Groupis changing the future of funding in Barking & Dagenham!
The Community Steering Group (CSG) is a group of local people who give their time and ideas to make the Community Endowment Fund a success, now and for future generations.
Previous
Next
The CSG’s make decisions about our investment fund. As much as possible, the CSG have full decision-making power about the
Fund
FundA way for people to combine their money and invest together.
, from how it is branded to what questions we ask applicants. The only restriction on this comes from charity law, which says that only a charity’s trustees can make decisions about investments. At this stage the CSG plays a vital role in acting as a critical friend to the trustees, ensuring that our investments are aligned with the law, our charitable objectives, and the wider vision of our community.
FundA way for people to combine their money and invest together.
Our role is to create the space and conditions for the CSG to make decisions about how the GROW Fund is invested and managed.
The CSG have a unique opportunity to make a real difference in the borough by sharing their experience. CSG members bring different professional and personal experiences, but all are agreed on a set of shared values. In regular meetings, they learn about
social investment
Social InvestmentUsing money to help people and communities while also making money back.
, use decision-making techniques and tools and find a way forward that includes all voices in the group.
Social InvestmentUsing money to help people and communities while also making money back.
CSG members get:
Training and support around group decision-making, community engagement, and understanding finances, and charitable funding processes;
A chance to network with a diverse group of people who care about Barking & Dagenham;
Involvement in a new funding model that could put the borough on the map for community investment;
Fair recognition for the contribution they make to the group; and
The power to shape what gets funded in Barking and Dagenham!
Community-Led Investment Policy
Barking & Dagenham Giving has put the local community in charge
of its new endowment fund, to ensure a legacy for the borough with community power at the core.
In June 2022, the Community Steering Group agreed on an
Investment Policy
that puts local interests at the heart of any decision. They went to the House of Commons to launch the policy in front of policy-makers and potential investors. This platform allowed the group to explain how, unlike other
social investments
Social InvestmentUsing money to help people and communities while also making money back.
, the decisions about how the investment will be managed, invested, and spent will be made by local people.
Investment Policy
A strategic document that outlines how an organisation will manage their investment assets (the “Portfolio”), with often a set of financial (and sometimes impact) objectives and boundaries.
Social InvestmentUsing money to help people and communities while also making money back.
Meet the Community Steering Group
Pauline Adeyemo
CSG Member
Emma Beecham
CSG Member
Irina Gocherenko
CSG Member
