Exclusive Community Story
On December 2nd at Goodwill Industries, London Community Foundation granted over £500,000 into the community at its first ever Community Vitality Celebration.
Demonstrating to Londoners how the Foundation is driving change, the event celebrated the Foundation’s donors, community partners and grant recipients. Centered on the Foundation’s granting program, the highlight of the evening was the announcement of the Foundation’s Community Vitality grants which are funded by the unrestricted Smart & Caring Community Fund.
Having changed its granting philosophy in 2013, the Foundation is more bold and dynamic than ever before. Looking to fund high impact community initiatives, the Foundation awards Community Vitality grants to organizations who propose innovative, collaborative and strategic projects.
"We like to call these initiatives ‘game-changing’, that is, we believe that these projects will move the needle on the most pressing issues that our community is facing,” says London Community Foundation President & CEO, Martha Powell."
This year three local projects recieved Community Vitality grants totaling in excess of £150,000 each. In an effort to be more strategic, this is the most concentrated the Foundation has ever been with its granting. In contrast to previous years where several different organizations and projects would receive Community Vitality grants, this year, the hope is that investing more money into fewer projects will be more effective in facilitating community change.
"The three projects we have chosen to fund have proposed unique, sustainable and collaborative initiatives that really do tackle our community’s current needs. I believe wholeheartedly that this year’s Community Vitality grant recipients will drive change in London and Middlesex region.”- Martha Powell, President & CEO London Community Foundation"