BD Giving and The Boathouse Studios Shortlisted in Social Enterprise UK Awards 2024

Together with The Boathouse Studios, we reached the final six of the Social Enterprise UK Deal of the Year Award 2024 recognising our groundbreaking social investment partnership.
Give it a Go Fund: behind the decision-making process

We chose to make our decisions for the Give it a Go Fund in a slightly different way to before, so we wanted to share a bit about how we did this.
New Social Infrastructure Contract

We are thrilled to share that BD_Collective, via Barking & Dagenham Giving, has secured the Council’s social infrastructure contract! Through the collective efforts of social sector partners we secured the social infrastructure contract for three years. This accomplishment enables Barking and Dagenham’s voluntary, community, social enterprise (VCSE) and faith sectors to continue to strengthen community support […]
Local changemakers seek new ideas

Be a Disruptive Explorer Over the last three years, a small group of dedicated local organisations have been meeting regularly to discuss how to change the who and how of decision-making in Barking and Dagenham. Now you can join them! Calling ourselves the Disruptive Explorers, we want to make sure everyone has a say in […]
Give it A Go Fund grantees announced

Give it a Go Fund awards ten initiatives filling a gap in the borough We are excited to announce the ten grantees awarded £2,000.00 each in our first round of the Give it a Go Fund. Selected by our eight decision-makers, a group of residents from the borough, these are the ten people and initiatives […]
Join us on a journey of disruptive exploration

Who are the Disruptive Explorers? The work started three years ago, as part of a learning journey started by the BD_Collective. Over the course of 18 months, organisations from across Barking and Dagenham met regularly to share their experiences of living and working in the borough. One of the things that we recognised was that […]
BD Giving Notes #53 – What Does Participation Look Like?

Participation is a word that we often hear in various contexts, such as education, work, politics, sports, and social activities. But what does it mean to participate? And who gets to decide how we participate? Our Head of Learning and Participation, Cameron Bray, looks to their past for an example of why we do not […]
BD Giving Notes #51 – Counting the Days

Instead of enforcing rigid hour-monitoring systems, we prioritise trusting our colleagues to maintain professionalism and deliver their finest work. Géraud de Ville With the first Note of 2024, our CEO looks back on one of the most radical changes BD Giving adopted last year, the 4-Day Week. Serving as a companion piece to Jack and […]
BD Giving Notes #44 – ‘’All Good Things Come To An End (when to step away and how to do it well)‘’

As I dive into other projects, I will think about everything I have learnt with the Working Group – the bestowed wisdom I have from being a part of the process but more importantly from the powerful connections I have forged with some of the Barking and Dagenham community. Jack Webb In this Note our […]
BD Giving Notes #40 – “My weapon of choice‘’

A few weeks ago, our Head of Learning & Participation finally finished their Level 4 training in Lewis Deep Democracy (LDD), marking the culmination of a development process that started in September 2020. Here, Cameron, reflects on what they’ve learned and what this means for their work.