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Our Priorities

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We describe our commitment to the borough and our approach as investing.

Our strategy sets a vision for ensuring local communities create lasting change in Barking and Dagenham. This is a strategy for investment in a place, with local people, for each community, and a better system.

Each of these four areas is a vital component of the future we imagine:
Investing in the place…

We will expand the borough’s social infrastructure to empower communities, resident's voices are prioritised and their needs met, so they can contribute to making the borough more inclusive.

For each community

We will forge strong relationships between residents, businesses, and local organisations. We will facilitate the formation of local partnerships to address the root causes of issues, beyond addressing the symptoms.

With local people

We will equip local people with the skills, knowledge, and resources to participate in collective decision-making, explore innovative approaches to participation, and meaningfully involve people in our governance and programmatic decisions.

And a better system

We are building and testing a new approach that empowers individuals and communities to actively participate in financial decision-making.

We aim to inspire a movement for community-led investment beyond the borough by sharing our learning and collaborating with like-minded organisations to ignite a ripple effect of positive change, driving transformation at a broader scale.

Investing in the place…

We will expand the borough’s social infrastructure to empower communities, resident's voices are prioritised and their needs met, so they can contribute to making the borough more inclusive.

With local people

We will equip local people with the skills, knowledge, and resources to participate in collective decision-making, explore innovative approaches to participation, and meaningfully involve people in our governance and programmatic decisions.

For each community

We will forge strong relationships between residents, businesses, and local organisations. We will facilitate the formation of local partnerships to address the root causes of issues, beyond addressing the symptoms.

For a better system

We are building and testing a new approach that empowers individuals and communities to actively participate in financial decision-making.

We aim to inspire a movement for community-led investment beyond the borough by sharing our learning and collaborating with like-minded organisations to ignite a ripple effect of positive change, driving transformation at a broader scale.

Investing in people

We will expand the borough’s social infrastructure to empower communities, resident's voices are prioritised and their needs met, so they can contribute to making the borough more inclusive.

With local people

We will equip local people with the skills, knowledge, and resources to participate in collective decision-making, explore innovative approaches to participation, and meaningfully involve people in our governance and programmatic decisions.

For each community

We will forge strong relationships between residents, businesses, and local organisations. We will facilitate the formation of local partnerships to address the root causes of issues, beyond addressing the symptoms.

And a better system

We are building and testing a new approach that empowers individuals and communities to actively participate in financial decision-making.

We aim to inspire a movement for community-led investment beyond the borough by sharing our learning and collaborating with like-minded organisations to ignite a ripple effect of positive change, driving transformation at a broader scale.

Get email updates about our latest news, funding, and other opportunities.​

JOIN US
Local people
at the heart of
decision making.

Write to us

BDGiving
50 Cambridge Road
Barking, Essex
IG11 8FG

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Barking and Dagenham Giving is supported by City Bridge Trust, the funding arm of The City of London Corporation’s charity, the Lankelly Chase Foundation and the National Lottery Community Fund. Barking and Dagenham Giving is registered in England | Registered number: 9922379 – Charity number: 1166335 | Registered office: 50 Cambridge Road, Barking, Essex, IG11 8FG

ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

“We had quite a ride in our first year as
an independent charity. I am excited
about what this year has in store and I’m
determined to grow our ability to deliver
additional support for Barking and
Dagenham’s VCSE”
Geraud de Ville De Goyet, CEO BD Giving.
Geraud De Ville De Goyet
2020 was a year of rapid growth. We raised £1.3m, including seed funding for the Community Endowment Fund. A priority for 2021 will be to increase our capacity to support community groups to recover, so they can continue to serve the people of Barking and Dagenham.

Diversify our board

We want to increase
local representation and
ensure a diverse range of
voices are represented in
our governance. In doing
so, we aim to strike a
balance between learned
and lived experience and
ensure a diverse array of
backgrounds on our Board.

Increase our capacity

We will increase our
capacity for community
engagement so that we
can provide additional relief
to the social sector and
further anchor BD Giving as
Barking and Dagenham’s
participatory grant maker.

Make good use of data

We want to develop a
clearer understanding
of the borough and how
all the people in it are
connected. We will work
with partners to utilise
existing data and collect
our own so that we begin
to see where our resources
could be placed to help
the community achieve its
ambitions.

PARTICIPATION

“The way the funding was designed and set out, and the fact that it was people in the community deciding who gets help is great. I wish all our funding applications were this way.”
Nat Smith, Education Director at Arc Theatre
We believe that people should be involved in decisions that affect their lives, giving them the opportunity to create meaningful change for themselves, their family and their neighbourhood. Our approach to participation assumes that wide peer-reviewed processes are inherently ‘good’ because they promote movement building, enhance critical analysis, connections, solidarity and accountability. For those reasons, we continuously interrogate the processes, terms, outcomes, evidence and risks, and devise ways to expand participation across our work.
Include rather than consult
One of the aims of our approach to funding is to explore whether and how participatory design and delivery can lead to better outcomes for the people of Barking and Dagenham, particularly for people who are subject to marginalisation. We will work to build trust with people in the community and not wait for people to come to us.
Enable inclusive participation
We will ensure people who want to participate have access to the time and tools they may need to make decisions about things which directly affect them. Inclusion also means learning when we need to step away from discussions where our presence is itself a barrier.
Make structures and processes visible
We will impose on ourselves the same standards that we ask others to meet, embed transparency in our approach, and always strive to be recognised as a credible, reliable and approachable partner.

PARTNERSHIPS & COLLABORATION

“We are all about collaboration and the team at BD Giving have quickly become valued partners, providing
and corralling resources to support the borough.”
Avril McIntyre, BD Collective
From day one we have sought to be recognised as a credible, reliable and approachable partner. Our ambition is to play a part in creating a truly collaborative social sector for the borough.
Intention into action
We will clarify our approach to partnership working in an open policy which will outline the conditions by which BD Giving enters long term partnerships as
well as ad hoc initiatives, demonstrating how we intend to solidify that reputation.
Build social infrastructure
We will further develop our relationship and collaboration with other social infrastructure support organisations to stimulate new opportunities in the borough, build capacity, grow cross-sector partnerships, and develop new forms of civic engagement.
Engage and partner with businesses
We know that much more can be done to connect business with the social sector and that there is scope for widening the focus of what corporate giving means; from providing skills and expertise, access to space, in kind donations, as well as opportunities.
A business engagement strategy will determine how we grow our fundraising activities targeting local SMEs and large corporates, developing new partnerships, as well as leveraging our relationships with partners to further expand corporate volunteering and support in
the borough.

LEARNING

“Cameron was tremendously helpful in connecting people up at BD Giving. Through this, many have joined our mailing lists and we have also created Facebook groups for further local relationship building.
”Carole Pluckrose, Artistic Director and Board Member of the Boathouse Barking
We have learnt a lot in the last year from delivering participatory grants throughout the pandemic, making new connections, and strengthening our position as a key partner in the local social infrastructure offer but learning is a journey.
Comfortable with the unknown
We recognise the need to stay reflective and adaptive and to make decisions based on learning and evidence. Lankelly Chase Foundation’s support to create a Local Fund is a unique opportunity for us to further develop our participatory practice and methodology
Focus on how change occurs
We will track the impact of individual grants but also work with partners and researchers to better understand how change occurs locally, looking at the outcomes of our approach for participants and the wider community. We will ensure all parties have an equal say and can learn and grow from this.
Share and influence
We want to use our unique position, as a link between large foundations and local charities, to help rethink the power relationship between funder and grantee. We will share our vision for change in the borough and beyond, and use the BD Giving platform to further anchor Barking and Dagenham as a champion of civic participation on the national scene.