Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness and impact of their Growing Place-based Giving Programme.

The Growing Place-based Giving Programme supported the creation of six place-based giving schemes as a means of stimulating local philanthropy and increasing investment in local communities in England. Each giving scheme received £100,000 of seed funding and development support from a specialist organisation. The schemes began work in 2019 bringing together local residents, philanthropists, corporate donors, and public sector and civil society organisations, and raising money to address local priorities.

The programme report, published in 2020, found that all six place-based giving schemes were in a position to be sustainable at the end of the programme. Based on the schemes’ initial work, the report also stresses that place-based giving can be a mechanism for fostering community cohesion and spirit, civic engagement, and meeting local needs.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the schemes’ development in 2020, but the report found that place-based giving can be an effective means of responding to crises. All six schemes were able to pivot their work to support local communities. For instance, Barking and Dagenham Giving developed a £100,000 Rapid Response Fund, while Totally Stoked created a hub for the local authority which co-ordinated resources and supported people who were shielding. The report found that this was only possible because of the work done during the Growing Place-based Giving programme.