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Blackbird Leys Community Fund

The Blackbird Leys Community Fund is a fund for members of the community who have an idea to improve the lives, health and wellbeing of future Leys residents. Local people will receive the funding and local people will make the decisions about the fund. 

Decisions about who is funded and how much they receive are made by a community panel themselves, shifting power to those who know the community best.

Get involved with the Blackbird Leys Community Fund

 

Whether you have an idea in the back of your head that you need some help to make a reality or you just need some funding to make your idea happen or carry on, we want to hear from you!

  • Spread the word – share this page with anyone you know who might have an idea or could make something amazing happen, with a little support.

  • Apply for funding - by the 14th April 23! Click the button below to fill out a form and let us know your idea. We will be in touch! If you would rather apply by video then please send a video to [email protected].

  • Donate to the fund and be part of this exciting work to put funding decisions in the hands of local people.

 
A group of people sitting round a table with lego blocks and notebooks
A group of residents and police officers standing around a jigsaw in a community living room

How does the Blackbird Leys Community Fund work?

A key aspect of putting people in the lead is to give them control of the money that makes things happen. Across the world, participatory grantmaking has been used to shift power from funders to communities, and we have been inspired to test this approach locally.

We ran the first round of the Community Fund in 2021 with support from Lankelly Chase and local residents in Blackbird Leys and Northfield Brook. This supported local activities in some of the areas of Oxford that are most affected by poor social mobility. 

By devolving power to residents and communities in this way, grantmaking can be much more effective and informed. Residents will often know what their community needs and can listen to find out when they don’t quite know. They can get people the support that they need quickly and efficiently. We are looking forward to working with other local partners to shift power in funding decisions to communities. We will be sharing our learnings from the programme as it evolves.

Read more about our approach and past projects we have funded here.

A woman sitting at a stall with a sign saying 'Got a Community Project Idea?'