Grants
Residents choose what gets funded in their borough
BD Giving involves local people in all funding decisions. Our grants bring residents together to design funds and decide what gets funded, while we test new ways to share power and resources.
Live Opportunity
Commissioning opportunity.
We’re commissioning 4 to 6 local groups to run creative engagement activities with young people aged 16-30, helping to shape what a new community-owned creative hub in the borough might look like.
We want young people, and the organisations they know and trust, to explore the idea, challenge our assumptions and dream big.
- What could a creative hub be? Where should it be?
- What should it offer?
- And how should young people lead it?
You decide!
Other grants run by Barking and Dagenham Giving
Renew Fund (2018 to 2021)
Funded by income from borough properties, Renew supported community ideas developed jointly by applicants and BD Giving, including responses to lockdown. It awarded 39 grants.
Riverside Fire Fund (2019 to 2022)
BD Giving distributed council funding to households affected by the 2019 De Pass Gardens fire, awarding 76 grants.
Rapid Response Fund (summer 2020)
Funded by £100,000 from the Lankelly Chase Foundation, this COVID-19 response offered flexible grants of up to £5,000. Around 30 residents shaped the process and 15 made funding decisions. The success of the fund was a proof of concept for the participatory grantmaking that has defined BD Giving’s work since.
Borough Innovation Fund (November 2020)
A LBBD council and Clear Channel UK initiative, delivered with Trees for Cities and BD Giving, supporting residents and community groups to create neighbourhood green spaces. From eight applications, two projects received funding.
COVID Relief Fund (March 2021)
Resident decision-makers awarded ten grants of £3,000, totalling £30,000, to smaller local organisations that had lost income during the pandemic.
Christmas foodbank appeal and Social Bite donation (2020 to 2021)
BD Giving passed donations from its December 2020 Christmas appeal and Social Bite’s December 2021 donation to local food causes.
Communities’ Pot (2021 to 2022)
Delivered with LBBD council, this fund enabled residents to allocate £30,000 through 20 grants of £1,500. They prioritised children, young people and families, including ideas that might struggle to attract funding elsewhere.
Closed Collective Model pilot (2021 to 2022)
Five local organisations jointly decided how to spend a shared funding pot, testing a participatory model later used for the Our Heathway Fund.
Lankelly Chase Participatory Working Group (2021 onwards)
A group of organisations funded by the Lankelly Chase Foundation jointly managed resources through Open Collective. During BD Giving’s involvement, it distributed four grants totalling £25,000. The group later became Shared Voices B&D.
Fuel Up! Campaign (2022 to 2023)
Launched with BD_Collective, Care City and ELBA, Fuel Up! invited residents to donate some or all of their £67 monthly government energy rebate. Donations supported households facing hardship through the BD Collective food network, reaching hundreds of residents.
GROW Fund (2023 to present)
GROW provides grants, business support and investment for local entrepreneurs. It began with £900,000 of Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy funding transferred by the council, followed by a further £550,000. A Community Steering Group designed the country’s first community-led investment policy, launched at Parliament in June 2022. To date, GROW has supported 32 organisations and distributed more than £500,000 in grants and investments.
Disruptive Explorers (2024 to present)
Funded by the Lankelly Chase Foundation’s Place Action Inquiry, local organisations and community groups jointly direct around £500,000 to challenge harmful systems. Grants have supported youth-focused groups, with collective decisions continuing on the remaining funding.
Give It a Go Fund (2024 to 2025)
This fund offered £2,000 grants for residents to test ideas addressing gaps in the borough. A new resident panel made decisions each round, awarding 40 grants totalling £80,000 between May 2024 and June 2025.
Our Heathway Fund (2026)
Part of a partnership with Be First and Urban Symbiotics, this £60,000 programme supported community activities at Dagenham Heathway Shopping Centre. Using the Closed Collective model, 20 applicants jointly decided to share the grant funding equally.
Nourish & Thrive Fund (2026)
Funded by the National Lottery Community Fund through a partnership with Camden Giving and Islington Giving, the programme brings over £100,000 to each borough. In Barking and Dagenham, residents, around half of them young people, designed a fund focused on access to healthy food. Applications opened on 6 October 2026 for grants of £6,583 and £18,000.