At Islington Giving, we believe in sharing decision-making power with residents who reflect and represent our diverse community.
That’s why our Community Panel – Islington Giving’s first intergenerational panel – came together to make funding decisions with a total of £150,000. The panel worked together to fund local projects which support people to learn skills, provide a community environment, and are accessible and inclusive.
“I’ve lived here for 40 years with family connections that go much further back, but it’s only now I feel truly part of the Islington community.” ~ Jeremy, Community Panel member
This report documents the four-month process of the Community panel, supported by Islington Giving, to grant a total of £150,000 to local projects. We begin with some contextual information on participatory grant making, and our learning from running resident-led programmes since 2018. It then describes the key stages in the resident-led grant making process from recruitment through to funding decisions. Each section outlines what we did and what we learned.
“I feel I am part of something impactful that will have long-lasting results.” ~ Community Panel member
Thank you to City Bridge Foundation for covering the costs of this programme. Thank you to Islington Giving for providing £150,000 towards grants for this programme and sharing power with local people to make decisions about what is most important to them. Thank you to our colleagues in the Programme and Fundraising and Comms teams for their time and support of the programme. Thank you to the 40 local people who applied to take part in the programme and for the 13 residents who were offered the role, who committed themselves fully to the process, trusting in the end result and benefitting us and Islington, we really appreciate you!
