What is a residents’ panel?
Through our residents’ panels, Islington Giving aims to:
- Diversify decision-making by learning from, and listening to, people who live in the borough.
- Challenge our own perceptions and ways of doing things.
- Share power and be more accountable and transparent to the local communities in which we work.
- Open a platform for local residents to create opportunities for themselves and for their borough.
“It has fed me immensely. I feel expanded, better skilled. It’s ignited my desire to learn more. It’s been a privilege.” (A 2021 Family Panel member)
Family Panel
The Family Panel, launched in 2020, is formed of a group of eight Islington residents who want to create access to opportunities and support for families and parents in Islington. Supported by Islington Giving team, the panel meet regularly to design, publish and run a funding call for projects benefitting Islington families. Each round, the panel are responsible for making decisions on how to spend a pot of funding (approximately £115K).
The 2021 call was focused on projects that engage and empower isolated parents and carers and reduce the likelihood of families facing crisis through social, emotional and community support, as well as opportunities for parents to improve their practical skills. Read more about the projects the panel funded in 2021-22.
As with Young Grant Makers programme, the Family panel members don’t need any previous experience with grant-making.
Key facts:
- Family panel comprises eight Islington residents who come together annually, over a period of three months, with the aim to make decisions about a pot of funding for supporting families and parents in Islington.
- The programme has been made possible by the support of Islington Giving donors and the National Lottery Community Fund.
- The family panels have a full decision-making power over a budget of £115,000
- The Family panel receives more applications that they can fund – the budget is enough to fund approximately 20-25% of projects applying for funding.
Since it launched, the Family Panel have funded the following groups: Arc, Parent House, Hornsey Lane Estate Community Association, Bags of Taste, Elfrida, Maa Shanti, Minority Matters, Memory Gardens, Memory Café, Freightliners Farm, All Change Arts, Global Generation, Jannaty Women’s Social Society, Manor Gardens Welfare Trust, Hillside Clubhouse
