Event: How we fund Community Wellbeing Initiatives
On Wednesday October 16th, The Giving Lab hosted an interactive wellbeing event, co-imagined and designed by our community, which gathered funders, organisations and Giving Lab grantees to take a deep dive into how we fund community wellbeing initiatives. We shared openly what impact community-driven funding has had on people's wellbeing and the wider community. Creating a platform for community cohesion, grantees brought their processes to life and shared how we can envision a funding landscape that is more equitable and ensures that communities are in the the lead.
Fowziya and Sylvia discussing community matters during the arts workshop hosted by Caroline and Alison from Share Your Story, Hear Our Story.
Taking a micro-community approach to engagement and outreach, The Giving Lab works with a variety of different communities, all bonded by their shared sense of geographical location: The area surrounding Walworth Road. A sunny October morning, we started the day early to prepare the room for a day of presentations and workshops hosted by TGL’s project leaders. One by one, community members, funding partners and grassroots organisations trickled in to join us, and by 10am, we were nearly ready to kick off.
Grantee Presentations
Starting with project leader Fowziya from The Independent Housing Consultancy project, she explored poignantly the lack of support that still persists within communities facing housing issues, and how easy it is to fall through the cracks of the system. Through her work, funded by TGL, she’s been able to provide tailored housing consultancy expertise and support to local housing estate residents, educating them about their rights and housing options.
Sylvia Raven, from the funded project Spring Board, took to the mic next and shared her perspective on the intricacies and the intersectional systemic issues that communities face. Recognising this, the main objective of Spring Board is to create a space for communities, led by them and for them, to come together and collaborate on developing creative ideas that address social determinants of health. By fostering a sense of togetherness and care, the project has helped people speak out and share their experiences, leading to reduced feelings of isolation and a revived sense of hope.
Up next, we listened to Jacqueline, a representative from the Latino Space within TGL, who spoke to the Women Empowerment and Integration projects, set up to combat loneliness among the Latino community in London. Sessions included: tailored English classes on how to speak to your GP, how to write a marketing plan for women seeking entrepreneurship, as well as practical cake decoration trainings and empowerment conferences. The collective pool of sessions provides a platform of support and connection for a wide group of people. Fuelled by the journey and gaining official certificates, some participants have continued on to set up their own businesses - and we can’t wait to see them thrive.
Amie presenting her work with Goschen Garden & Skate Party, hosting community garden skate events and workshops to address mental, physical and spiritual health needs.
Last but not least we heard from Amie, a mother of two and NHS worker with a big heart for roller skating. She took the initiative to organise a Garden & Skate Party for her housing estate to address mental, spiritual and physical health needs. Providing joyful movement through skating and hula hoop sessions and inviting the NHS to do vital health checks on all residents, the event is a fun and inclusive way of encouraging good health in her community. Visited by the Deputy Mayor and the NHS, the event was a great success, and hearing Amie speak of the big difference that a day like this can make for people’s wellbeing, really emphasises the point of what community-led funding initiatives are all about: Communities are best-placed to solve the issues they experience, and when given the funding and opportunity to do so, their ideas can have a transformational impact on people’s lives.
community work means adapting the plan when needed
Lucy giving a well-attended workshop on her project ‘Health Education on Hypertension and Diabetes’.
Due to a late start (London’s traffic can take the blame for that), we were running a bit behind schedule, but community work wouldn’t be community work if we weren’t able to pivot quickly to ensure everyone could have their time to be heard. With some quick collaborative thinking, we adjusted the programme to make sure we could keep on championing community voices in the next part of the session: The interactive workshops. Hosted by seven community representatives, attendees now got a chance to experience the impact of some of The Giving Lab’s funded projects. A big shoutout to Paola from Sweet success: Cake decoration for empowerment, Abdul Karim from Counter Fraud Youth Education & Awareness, Lucy from Health Education on Hypertension and Diabetes, Jacqueline from Integration and Cultural Enrichment, Caroline from Share Your Story, Hear Our Story and Teekall from Design for Everyone. This encouraged traditionally marginalised voices to be platformed and listened to, and meaningful connections were made - it was community cohesion in practice!
The Giving Lab facilitator Veronica Awuzudike during a workshop that set out to explore what community-led funding should look like.
Speaking to some of our guests afterwards, many mentioned they found the day inspiring and invigorating, and left the venue with a renewed sense of purpose and direction. And this feeling wasn’t limited to our external audience: All of us in the team shared this feeling of hope. Nairat, one of TGL’s facilitators, commented: “It’s so enriching to facilitate and then watch people in action. I was speaking to one of the community members, who mentioned that at TGL, you can’t tell who’s a community member and who’s a TGL team member.”
It sums up perfectly how we work at The Giving Lab: Fostering deep relationships is at the core of everything we do. Walking around the room, it’s impossible to not be moved by people’s enthusiasm and determination. It is possible to do things differently - and the Giving Lab community is showing the world exactly how joyful that can be.
“The Giving Lab community is showing the world how joyful it can be to do things differently.”
The Giving Lab colleagues Daniel and Nairat together with some of the Latino space community members, including Jacqueline and Paola!