Our ability to provide a high-quality service, working with clients, adapting processes, and working with resident applicants was integral to L&Q’s decision to work with us for six years. The L&Q Place Makers fund operates on a monthly rolling application basis and in collaboration with local residents who are involved directly in the assessment of applications.
The success of this process owes much to our close relationship with L&Q colleagues and our role as a critical friend. Each year we produce an annual report that reflects on the fund’s operation through the year, built on insights generated from our Place Makers fund dashboard and the feedback we collect from applicants. In these reports we are able to identify areas for development and improvement that make our internal processes more efficient and enhance our applicant’s user journey.
Since 2018, this investment has reached hundreds of grassroots organisations, including in Greenwich, which share a commitment to changing lives and enhancing places where L&Q have a presence. Since its launch, over £3.4m has been distributed to 262 projects aligning to their strategic outcomes, including 25 community projects delivering directly in Greenwich who have received a combined £292,791 in grant funding. We were recognised for quickly adapting policy and criteria to reach additional community demand during Covid.
Our partnership with L&Q Foundation has built flexible strategic, local and development funding streams reaching a range of neighbourhoods. We:
- streamlined the application process, translating it to an online platform which clearly conveyed the fund’s eligibility requirements
- created intuitive application forms containing automated error-prevention functionality to help applicants’ journey through the process
- enabled decisions to be made quickly, including engaging local neighbourhood committee recommendations from residents
Between November 2018 and March 2023, we enabled: 262 grassroot projects to be supported with grants ranging from £1,070 to £50,000 with an average award of £13,100, 3,468 individuals improved their levels of personal wellbeing, 11,640 young people advanced their education and/or employment journeys, and 1,369 individuals actively engaged in their local communities.
“Rocket Science have been instrumental in helping us create positive, lasting change for our residents and communities. Their management of our Place Makers Fund has engaged more grassroots organisations than ever and allowed us to be flexible with our offer during the pandemic.” L&Q Fund Manager.