Programme | LCRF

3 Jun 10:00-11:00

Understanding organisations led by and for their communities

The New Economics Foundation shares research into the struggles faced by by-and-led-for organisations, and how funding processes can be improved to make them more accessible, inclusive and connected to communities and the organisations who support them.

Online meeting
3 Jun 11:00-12:00

What does good basic tech infrastructure look like at the grassroots?

In an increasingly complex and fast-moving technology landscape, how can small charities and community organisations get started, keep up and get ahead?

Online meeting
3 Jun 12:00-13:00

Investing in equity and justice infrastructure

Who funds equity & justice infrastructure in the UK? How has that landscape shifted? What gaps and opportunities lie ahead—and how can we build a stronger ecosystem for equity & justice organisations and movements to thrive?

Online meeting
3 Jun 13:00-14:00

Community wealth building 101: how can we develop a fairer economy for London?

How can funders – both private and public – help build wealth in the communities and places they support?

Webinar
3 Jun 14:00-15:00

Advising Londoners: funding through partnership, not prescription

This session explores the Advising Londoners Partnership —a bold, co-produced funding model led by the Greater London Authority in partnership with London Legal Support Trust and London Citizens Advice.

Online meeting
3 Jun 15:00-16:30

The hidden costs of monitoring and evaluation

London Youth is joined by grant recipient, Mary's Youth Club, as they both share the reality of monitoring, evaluation and learning from their different perspectives.

In-person
3 Jun 15:00-16:30

Changing places, changing systems: how do we make it sustainable?

How do we create change in the places we fund and support? And in the current socio-economic context, how do we ensure that change is sustainable and systems-wide?

In-person
4 Jun 10:00-11:00

The future is collaborative: lessons from Edinburgh’s first pooled fund

Join us as we reflect on the journey of the Regenerative Futures Fund in Edinburgh and explore key milestones, such as the formation of a lived experience decision-making panel and early capacity-building work with community organisations.

Online meeting
4 Jun 11:00-12:30

Building the capacity of London’s equality organisations to impactfully engage with the media

This session, run by Media Trust, will explore what support equalities organisations need to impactfully engage with the media.

In-person
4 Jun 14:00-15:00

Building brighter futures: lessons from a five-year collaboration

Join Barclays, Smallwood Trust and Family Action to explore key learnings from five years of delivering employability programmes in some of the UK’s most deprived areas.

In-person
4 Jun 15:00-16:00

Thinking outside the box: rethinking youth intervention

Discover the journey and impact of the VRU Stronger Futures Programme, now in its fourth year as their flagship after-school initiative supporting community-led organisations.

Online meeting
5 Jun 10:00-11:30

Towards more inclusive cultures and grant making practices

This session will focus on how the philanthropy sector can develop more inclusive recruitment, workplace cultures, and grant making practices for systemic change.

In-person
5 Jun 12:00-13:00

Funding change and shifting systems: lessons from a place-based partnership

How can we as funders create the conditions for lasting systemic change?

Online meeting
5 Jun 13:00-14:00

Beyond numbers: building more trusting and equitable evaluation practices

How can funders create more trusting and equitable practices while still gathering meaningful evidence and insights?

Online meeting
5 Jun 14:00-15:00

Making progress in place: building our collective knowledge of place-based approaches

Join Sported as they share their strategies for building connections, identifying local challenges, community-led evaluations and developing solutions collaboratively.

Online meeting
5 Jun 15:00-16:00

Reimagining how we fund: a shared learning session

Southwark Funders Forum has been exploring different models of making funding more open, transparent, and participatory - models that trust communities to know how best to deliver.

In-person
5 Jun 17:30-18:30

How to make an impact as a trustee of a grant making charity

What does it really mean to be an effective trustee of a funding organisation? And how can trustees make sure they're genuinely adding value?

Online meeting
9 Jun 11:00-12:00

Equitable Funding: lessons from targeted outreach

Join the National Lottery Community Fund's London team as we share insights from our work to improve access to funding for minoritised communities.

Webinar
9 Jun 12:00-13:30

Lessons from centring youth voice in housing policy

Discover how collaborative funding can empower youth-led research to tackle housing challenges across London.

In-person
9 Jun 13:00-14:00

What grantees are saying: how well are European funders listening?

New data to be released in a forthcoming Center for Effective Philanthropy report reveals wide variation in grantee perceptions of European funders. This event will explore the opportunity for funders across Europe to give grantees more of what they say they need and rise to the moment.

Online meeting
9 Jun 14:00-15:00

Rethinking crisis support

Explore how the Caritas Vouchers and Assistance Scheme has supported 25,000 people in London boroughs and Hertfordshire with dignity and choice at its core.

Webinar
9 Jun 15:00-16:00

What makes collaboration difficult - and what makes it worthwhile?

This session – hosted by City Bridge Foundation – invites honesty, curiosity, and shared learning from collaborative practice.

Online meeting
10 Jun 10:00-11:00

Co-designing better funding programs with and for young people

The Co-op Foundation share their co-design principles and, how they identified and responded to the needs of young entrepreneurs, including accessing funding and navigating financial systems, building skills, gaining visibility, and safeguarding wellbeing.

Online meeting
10 Jun 10:00-11:00

What should funders do about AI?

In this session, CAST will share ten AI trends for grant makers – drawing on our experience and learnings from convening the AI for grant makers peer group – a network of over 100 grant makers exploring AI.

Online meeting
10 Jun 11:00-12:00

Redistributing power: how pooled funds are changing the funding landscape

Building on the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's research on the value of pooled funds, this session is a conversation between those who are doing in it practice, including Migration Exchange, The Movements Trust, Power of Pop and the Democracy Fund.

Online meeting
10 Jun 11:00-12:00

Can technology help create thriving communities?

This collaborative session with Sovereign Network Group (SNG) and ActionFunder will explore how using technology has delivered impactful, proportionate, and participatory grant making.

Online meeting
10 Jun 12:00-13:00

Funding wellbeing: what do organisations need and how can we support them?

How can we support the wellbeing of the organisations and people we fund? In this session, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and LEF will share what we’re learning from supporting grantees with their wellbeing and discuss opportunities for funders to collaborate to maximise our efforts.

Online meeting
10 Jun 13:00-14:30

If the system is broken, how can funders help fix it?

In this interactive workshop, the Curiosity Society tell the inside story of what it means to change a system in real life.

In-person
10 Jun 15:00-16:30

Sharing power: why we must first change our relationship to risk

Is our reluctance to take risks driven by a fear of sharing control? Join Commonweal Housing as we explore this question through real-world power-sharing projects with frontline service providers.

In-person
11 Jun 10:00-11:00

Seeing the whole picture: what the data tells us about the state of UK grant making

In this session, 360Giving will share the latest data and insights from UKGrantmaking's 2025 edition, ahead of its launch in early June. You'll get an overview of the funding ecosystem across the UK, as well as reflections on the availability of data, its quality, and the potential for its use.

Online meeting
11 Jun 10:30-12:00

Power, participation and public funding: lessons from London’s local authorities

Across London, local authorities are experimenting with new ways of putting communities at the heart of decisions about where money is spent is their local area

In-person
11 Jun 12:00-13:00

Transforming a historic grant making charity to better support the local voluntary and community sector

How do you transform and modernise a historical grant making charity to meet the needs of the local community?

Online meeting
11 Jun 14:00-15:00

How funders can sustain London’s Black-led organisations

How can we better support the long-term sustainability of Black-led organisations in London—not just through funding, but through shifting power and creating space?

Online meeting
12 Jun 13:00-16:00

Festival Finale

After two weeks of ideas, conversations and learning across the Festival, we’re bringing the Festival to a close with an afternoon of reflection, discussion and connection.

In-person