Nobody knows what a community needs better than the people who are a part of it. So why are residents so often excluded from funding decisions?

Just nine miles east of Central London, an ambitious funder is changing that. Barking & Dagenham Giving's GROW Fund is the first community-led investment fund in England.

Residents have the power to make decisions about how money is invested in their neighbourhoods. And they have chosen to back community enterprises that will make a commercial and social impact in their area.

Nine Miles East is a podcast about the rise, fall, and rise again of a chronically underfunded and deprived London borough.

Hosted by content creator and local resident Elvire Matu, tune in to hear from the business owners, the decision makers, and the charity at the helm who trust in the wisdom of local people to improve things for their community.

Brought to you by Barking and Dagenham Giving

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In the first episode of this podcast - 9 Miles East, we take a look back at Barking and Dagenham’s history, exploring the rise, fall and rise again, of one of London’s most underfunded boroughs. But what could a brand new funding model do to change things for the local community? Enter the GROW Fund. BD Giving’s Head of Learning and Participation Cameron Bray breaks down how the fund works and why it’s so important for the people and local business in the borough.

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In episode 2 of 9 Miles East, we meet Wunmi Oyewole, a proud member of BD Giving’s Community Steering Group. Nobody knows what a community needs better than the people who are part of it. So who better to involve when it comes to making important funding decisions? It was the CSG who played a key role in deciding which local business would receive 25K from The GROW Fund. Wunmi explains why it was so important to involve people who knew the borough best.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.