Julia Slay

What happens when you hand over decision-making power to the community? The Southwark Changemakers programme is redefining how to fund grassroots initiatives, demonstrating the power of trust, collaboration, and a light-touch approach to grant-making.

Changemaker is a two year programme to test a new way of devolving grant-making to a hyper local level, and equip local residents with small scale funds to respond to an issue or need they see in Southwark. 

United St Saviour’s Charity (UStSC) is providing funding to Active Communities Network (ACN) to reach new groups who have historically been locked out of funding opportunities. The funding will support up to 30 groups or individuals over the course of 2025 and 2026. 

Today we’re launching a short report to introduce the model, and the Changemakers themselves. You’ll get the chance to see the range of projects that have been funded so far, born directly from the ideas and needs from within the community. The projects are tackling issues ranging from financial literacy to social isolation – and much more.

This report also shines a light on how the Changemakers programme has made funding more accessible to individuals and small groups: Active Communities Network simplified the application process. Governance workshops, accessible application formats, and ongoing mentorship allowed small groups to participate without feeling overwhelmed.Crucially, the programme has replaced onerous reporting requirements with meaningful 1:1 conversations and project visits. 

The programme made concerted efforts to engage historically underfunded communities. Through multilingual outreach, face-to-face engagement, and partnerships with trusted local intermediaries, they have successfully reached groups who might otherwise have been excluded.

By prioritising personal connections over paperwork, the programme built trust with grassroots groups that are often sceptical of traditional funding mechanisms. The programme hasn’t been without its challenges though. When local organisations take on the role of funders, new challenges arise. For Active Communities Network (ACN), this required careful management to avoid inadvertently replicating the hierarchical dynamics they seek to dismantle. The relational approach to funding is also resource-intensive. Ensuring adequate support for changemakers required ACN to expand its team and adapt its operations to meet the growing demands of the programme.

Over the next year Active Communities Network will be working closely with the Changemakers to support them as they develop their ideas, and we will be sharing the learning as we go along about how this approach is making a difference to local communities in Southwark.

You can read the final report and see the video here.