About us
Camden Giving is an independent charity working to end local poverty and inequality in Camden.
We were set-up in 2017 as a participatory funder because we believe that the people who are surviving inequality are the people who can, and should, fund the solutions to the challenges facing communities in Camden.
Why Camden
Camden is a special place, full of activism, creativity and pride, but not everyone's experience of Camden is equal:
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We prioritise shifting power to a varied range of voices, over counting the number of residents making funding decisions. Why? Because people who are surviving local inequalities are the ones we should look to for our solutions.
Everyone involved in Camden Giving’s community led decisions bring new perspective and ideas. They have something to say that might not otherwise be heard, no one is ever involved to “tick a box”. We’re shifting power to people, supplementing their knowledge and opening up new networks.
You can expect us to train and pay 50 new community panellists a year, change our work to suit their needs and demonstrate how this makes our funding decisions different to other funders.
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We prioritise having accessible funding processes over counting the number of projects. Why? Because we work on the notion that everyone can play a part in overcoming inequality.
We have processes and people which mean that experience, connections, skills, background and confidence are not barriers to receiving funding.
We’re working to increase funding to community leaders who have experience of inequality and we’re spending more time with people who need our help to access funding. We want to share at least a £1 million a year in this way.
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We’re breaking down divides between people who live and work in Camden to create greater outcomes.
We work with businesses and charities as equal partners and want parties to gain something be that skills, well-being or connections.
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We recognise that racial injustice and inequality has a big impact on the people of Camden. We have insured our processes are informed by the experiences of our staff, supporters and grantees in order to promote equitable racially just community.
How we do it
Our Values & Principles
Camden Giving is a place where people with different perspectives can come together safely, we know that learning from each other in those spaces is essential to overcoming inequality in Camden. We get to see a huge number of people learn more about their community from each other’s lives, it’s a beautiful thing to see and it gives us hope every day.
Whilst we celebrate diversity of opinion, we will not compromise the emotional and physical safety of the people involved in our work.
Our 5 Guiding Principles
①
We are anti-discriminatory
This is our starting point, we acknowledge that it gets complicated from here on out, but we are clear that we don’t want discrimination in our work.
②
We work intersectionally & with cultural sensitivity
We understand that people’s lives may mean they’ve been less exposed to anti-oppressive values or need support to understand discrimination, we support people with good intentions even if they phrase thoughts clumsily and we’ll work together to find a common language.
③
We prioritise physical and emotional safety
We think about the safety of staff, trustees, panellists, grantees, beneficiaries and people in Camden in every decision.
We’re activists for good and won't stand by and allow people with opposing views feel unsafe.
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We welcome a range of views, so long as they are not making others unsafe
Where people hold views that we know are harmful, we will work them because we believe that understanding and learning is key to cohesion.
When we hold challenging views, rather than ask them to leave our work, we do this because we don’t want to drive people further into division or confirm a belief that “some people get forgotten about”. However, we will not keep working with people who cause others to be or feel unsafe.
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We know this is complex and we want to arrive at each situation with fresh eyes
We think about the safety of staff, trustees, panellists, grantees, beneficiaries and people in Camden in every decision.
We’re activists for good and won't stand by and allow people with opposing views feel unsafe.
