At Consortium we recently hosted our first ever Funders Fair, at the London LGBTQ+ Community Centre. The event was an opportunity for our London members to meet and get to know some of the key funders in London and to learn more about their funding programmes and application processes.
The evening started with an introduction from James Banks (he/him) from London Funders, which is the only cross- sector membership network for funders and investors in London’s civil society.
James discussed the work that they do and their key learnings; for anyone interested in the presentation you can view it here.
This was followed by presentations by both The National Lottery Community Fund and City Bridge Foundation.
The National Lottery Community Fund presentation covered:
- Their New Strategy
- Their Funding Offer in England
- Who and What they Fund
- How to Apply
Their presentations slides can be seen here
City Bridge Foundation presentation covered:
- Who They Are
- Small Grants Programme
- Areas of Funding
- Application Process
- The Bridge Programme
Their presentations slides can be seen here.
After the presentation members were able to take advantage of the opportunity for a 1:1 chat with each of the funders including London Community Foundation, to ask them any questions for funding relevant to their organisations.
The feedback from the event was incredibly positive and it was a wonderful chance for many of our member organisations to connect with each other while enjoying the light supper provided by the wonderful folks at the Food Chain.
The engagement team have taken the feedback and learnings from this event and are now in the process of planning our second funders fair which we look forward to seeing many of you at.