Greenwich Giving launch

We officially launched!

On the 3rd of December, we welcomed residents, businesses, and charities from across the Royal Borough of Greenwich to learn more about the exciting start of Greenwich Giving.

On the left, carafes of water, bottles of apple juice, cans of beer and sparkling glasses await the beginning of the night.On the right, white paper name tags are neatly lined up on a table for the arrival of the guests.

With delicious foods and drinks provided by local catering business Deluscious Catering, residents and representatives came together at the beautiful Forum in the Design District (kindly provided by Knight Dragon) to share their thoughts and voice their support for the new giving scheme.

What is Greenwich Giving? 

Part of the larger local giving movement spreading across London, we are the new scheme in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, working to inspire people and organisations to donate to local causes, places and communities. Our mission is to make giving – be that money, time, skills or resources – easy and fulfilling, to strengthen community ties and make Greenwich a rewarding place to live. 

At the launch event, we installed a Giving Wall to connect community requests with giving offers. Businesses were able to put up pledges of support, while charities and community groups posted what help they needed, be that volunteers, resources or expertise. Greenwich Giving has now started to match business partners with community projects and we are always on the lookout for more requests and pledges.

How Do We Support the Voluntary and Statutory Sector? 

We heard from several inspiring speakers about how local giving supports charities and community groups to do even more, and what amazing work is already being done by the voluntary sector in Greenwich.

A local giving scheme is about supporting the strength and work which is already going on in the borough. And there is just so much amazing work happening in Greenwich ... – people who are seeing a need, and choosing to step up and put their time and effort and care into their community.
Anna Ritchie, Head of Greenwich Giving

Other speakers included:

"Greenwich Giving will make life easier for [the many vital micro and small organisations in Greenwich] to access funds, volunteers and in-kind support, ... [so they can] do what they do best and support our residents and communities."

  • Saboohi Bukhari, the Director of Place-based Giving at London Funders, who shared how the local giving movement is expanding across the UK, bringing boroughs together and driving transformational change.

"Greenwich Giving will be integral to strengthening local partnerships and supporting community driven change. [...] [They will] collaborate with Greenwich’s diverse range of voluntary and community organisations, connecting with local people and businesses – so that together you can understand how to use resources more effectively and create better solutions by working together.” 

  • Pamela Franklin from the Caribbean Social Forum talked about how she set up the Forum so that the “Windrush Generation” would have a place to connect and combat loneliness and isolation. She also shared her experiences of creating successful partnerships where both parties could benefit.
  • And lastly, we heard from Sophie Nicol from the Woolwich Creative Club, who told guests about setting up a project that supports local schoolchildren to learn to play and perform music, and the difference they see in young people’s wellbeing and development.

A big thank you to all our speakers, pictured below:

From left to right: Pamela Franklin, Sophie Nicol, Cllr Jit Ranabhat, Anna Ritchie, and Saboohi Bukhari.

What Are We Working On? 

At the launch, we also announced the theme of our first giving campaign. We are raising funds to support local projects tackling social isolation and loneliness as nearly 1 in 3 Greenwich residents report feeling lonely. This theme was chosen by hundreds of local people through a community consultation:

People in Greenwich have been so generous with us in sharing their experiences and their expertise. ... Hundreds of people took part in our first community consultation and told us what they think our first giving campaign should be about – which is how we’ve decided on social connection.
Anna Ritchie, Head of Greenwich Giving

There is already amazing work happening in the borough’s voluntary and charitable sector, but too often groups are being asked to do more with less. 100% of gifts given to the Greenwich Giving Campaign go to local charities and community groups, making a positive impact on the borough.

The campaign kicked off at our launch, with £1,300+ donated, plus multiple giving pledges for pro-bono support, free event space, and more. For anyone who would like to donate to the campaign, you can visit our campaign page to give.