The Greater London Authority (GLA)’s Financial Hardship team are hosting an interactive online workshop about funding welfare and income-maximisation advice in community settings.
It’s well known that for many Londoners in financial hardship, getting social welfare legal advice can be a lifeline. When this advice is delivered in local, trusted, culturally appropriate settings, this can generate significant return on investment for funders, enabling more people who are traditionally underserved by advice services to maximise their incomes and improve their lives.
Since 2021, the GLA has been funding partnerships between advice agencies and community locations like food banks, schools, community centres and more, through our Advice in Community Settings programme. We are keen to speak with advice funders about the evaluation of our community-based advice funding, discuss the evidence base and return on investment for delivering advice interventions in community settings, and have a wider discussion with funders about community-based and grassroots advice.
The workshop is from 2:00-3:30pm on 31 January and is aimed at anyone with direct responsibility for managing grant programmes and an interest in funding advice in London. The discussion will focus on funder practice and how funding for community-based advice can be deployed most effectively to meet the needs of grantees.
We are also hosting a second workshop on 8 February aimed at strategic leaders at organisations funding advice in London, which will be a strategic discussion about the state of community-based advice in London and the opportunities to collaborate in funding advice community settings. If you are aware of someone at your organisation who may be interested in attending that strategic meeting, please let me know.
If you, or someone you work with, would like to attend either workshop, please email Lizzie.Mahoney@london.gov.uk.
