How it Started
Once recruited and onboarded, the first step for the group was to establish our shared priorities for change in the borough. We used the Borough Manifesto as a starting point because we knew that the priorities stated within it were voted on by local people. We picked our own priorities from that list, then we took a second vote as if we were choosing for our neighbours. Most people’s votes changed, which gave us all food for thought: thinking about the whole community has been a priority from the outset.
The final exercise of our first workshop gave members a chance to make theoretical decisions about where to invest their own money. You can see exactly how this worked by taking part in the Orange, Apple or Lemons, quiz. The results of the quiz are anonymous but if you take part, you will see the results, and get a flavour of the kinds of questions we’ve been asking ourselves.
Our Shared Aims
Sourcing Deals
Risk
When you invest money there is always a chance that you won’t get the return you expected. Weighing that up is important before investing.
Return
The amount of money you expect to get back from an investment,
usually as a percentage gained over a set period of time.
Liquidity
How fast you can get your money back from an investment without paying a fine for taking it back
“I want to invest in B&D but it’s really hard to find an investment in the borough. Is it better to invest somewhere else or keep the investment in B&D and move our aim away from the centre of our bullseye? What is more ethical?”
Cautiously Empowered
Using a model called The Quadrilateral (pictured, left) helped us balance the principles, involved in making investment decisions. Despite starting the meeting with trepidation, once again, the group were able to come to a consensus on some theoretical investments.
CSG member Wunmi described how she came away feeling cautiously empowered after using the quadrilateral in this short video down below:
“I started out by feeling that I had to make decisions dispassionately, that investments should only be made logically but the way BD Giving designs their processes has shown me that sentimentality is important if you’re trying to respond to what people need.
After four, fairly intense meetings, it was time to slow things down a bit and reflect on where we’d got to.
We decided to have an in-person meeting to solidify our learning, blow off steam and strengthen the bonds we’d developed in the last few months. We talked about our strengths as a group and enjoyed a delicious pot luck meal together.
What an amazing, committed, and passionate bunch.
An Expert Panel
The fifth and last workshop with Lara and Chris from Curiosity Society was a bit emotional, we reflected on our progress and had an expert panel, including Amir Rizwan from Big Society Capital, Chris Wood from the Curiosity Society, and Alex Jeremy, a BD Giving Trustee and local resident.
After this panel answered questions, Lara, playfully revealed that there was a second expert panel. Watch the video of the new panel of experts here.
