Press Releases/Media Coverages
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New 1 Millon Pound Initiative Launched to Strengthen Community Based Prevention Work on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
City Parochial Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Rosa (the UK Fund for Women and Girls), three independent charitable organisations, have collaborated to establish a new UK-wide Special Initiative to fund community based, preventive work to safeguard children from the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
The initiative is supporting organisations based within practising communities - in particular, women's organisations. Approximately £1million has been invested in 15 organisations throughout the UK over a three-year period. The projects will start in January 2010.
Click here for press release
FGM Initiative Press Release.pdf
New Trustees/Co-optee to the Board of Trust for London and City Parochial Foundation
Posted 6 November 2009
The Board of Trust for London and City Parochial Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of two new Trustees following an open recruitment:
• Loraine Martins became a Trustee from September 2009, having formerly served as a co-opted member of Trust for London Grants Committee. Loraine is Head of Equality, Inclusion, Employment & Skills at the Olympic Delivery Authority. Prior to that she was Head of Diversity at the Audit Commission.
• Naomi Eisenstadt will join as a Trustee from January 2010. She recently retired as the Director of the Social Exclusion Task Force in the Cabinet Office. Her previous roles have included adviser to the Secretary of State on Children and Young People's Services, Director of Sure Start, Chief Executive of the Family Services Unit, as well as posts at NCVO and Save the Children Fund.
Muge Dindjer, until recently the Joint Acting Head of Social Inclusion and Health at the Greater London Authority and a member of the London Child Poverty Commission was co-opted onto the Foundation's Grants Committee from October 2009.
London Social Justice Award Winner and finalists
Winners of the Sheila McKechnie Foundation Campaigner Awards were announced at a ceremony held at St Martin's in the Field on 16 September, please click link below:
Campaigner Awards 2009 Awards
The London Social Justice Award, sponsored by CPF and presented by Shami Chakrabarty, Director of Liberty was won by Renuka Bhakta of Southwark Mind for the 'Save Amardeep' Kindred Minds Project. More details of the campaign click link below:
The Amardeep Campaign
Effect (Foundation's in Europe Together)
Special Plenary Session
Bharat Mehta, Chief Executive spoke at the plenary session of the European Foundation's Centre Annual Conference in Rome in mid May. The session was focussed on the link between migration and poverty. It touched on issues including the social and economic impacts of migration, as well as the discrimination and negative attitudes faced by migrants and their descendants.
For the full article please click link below:
Special Plenary Session: Migration and Poverty.pdf
New research reveals hidden picture of poverty and inequality in London
Posted 19 May 2009
London has the highest rates of poverty and inequality of any region in the country according to new research from the City Parochial Foundation and the New Policy Institute, launched today.
London's Poverty Profile is the first independent report to bring together such a wide range of indicators measuring poverty, inequality and social exclusion in the capital. It will be available on a new web site (www.londonspovertyprofile.org.uk) and updated regularly to monitor progress. The report was launched at Shoreditch Town Hall on 19 May with speakers including the Minister for London and Minister of State for Employment & Welfare Reform, Tony McNulty MP.
The research analyses the latest available data to reveal patterns of poverty and inequality across the capital and how this has changed over time. It shows that:
• London is the most unequal region in England. There are more people in London with an income in either the top ten per cent nationally or the bottom ten per cent nationally than anywhere else in the country.
• A higher proportion of people of all ages in London live below the poverty line than in any other region in the country.
• Almost half of child poverty in London can now be found in households where at least one adult is working.
• Beneath the overall figures lie real differences within London. On many indicators, Inner London is worse than any English region but it has improved over the past decade. In contrast, although Outer London usually still does better than Inner London, it has been getting worse on a number of issues including child and working-age poverty. More of the capital's low-income population now live in Outer London than Inner London.
• Boroughs in the Inner East & South of London, fare badly on a range of indicators in comparison to London's other boroughs. This is particularly noticeable for worklessness and ill health. However, pockets of deprivation and exclusion can be found right across the capital.
• The proportion of households in London living in temporary accommodation is ten times higher than the national average and five times higher than the English city with the second highest rate.
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Living Wage
Posted 16 December 2008
We have been very aware that a number of Londoners living in poverty have been those in paid employment. This is because many are paid wages which are insufficient to live on. For example, 9% of full-time and 35% of part-time workers are receiving less than poverty threshold wages. A key tool in tackling low pay has been the Living Wage campaign which advocates for a wage level (currently set at £7.45 an hour) which takes into account the capital's high living costs.
Having funded the campaign for a number of years we have decided to provide significant new funding for this initiative. Over the next four years we will provide over £850,000 to develop and expand this work. This will be used to commission new research to assess the potential benefits to employers and employees of a Living Wage. In addition, London Citizens www.londoncitizens.org.uk/ has been awarded £685,000 to establish a dedicated London Living Wage Unit. The aim of the Unit is to drive forward additional campaign work, particularly in the public and retail sectors, and to undertake the compliance and accreditation of businesses and agencies who sign up as Living Wage employers. It is expected that by 2012 an additional 37,000 Londoners will be earning a Living Wage and the annual additional financial benefit for employees will be over £111 million in wages.
More information can be downloaded below:
Historical Press Releases - September 2006 to November 2008
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Safeguarding Children's Rights
City Parochial Foundation (CPF) and Trust for London (TfL) have awarded £450,000 over three years to four organisations addressing faith-based child abuse linked to a belief in spirit possession.
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London Charities receive £450,000 to tackle faith-based child abuse
Posted Thursday 20 September 2007
London Charities receive £450,000 to tackle faith-based child abuse
Independent charitable funders City Parochial Foundation (CPF) and Trust for London (TfL) have awarded £450,000 to four organisations addressing faith-based child abuse linked to a belief in spirit possession.
The funding, through TfL/CPF's 'Safeguarding Children's Rights' special initiative, will support work with London's African communities that develops and strengthens community-based preventive activities in this field. The initiative was established in response to concerns raised with TfL and CPF by African community groups about the need for support at a grassroots level. Funding will support work with young people, parents, social workers, policy-makers and church leaders.
Grants have been awarded to: AFRUCA, UK Congolese Safeguarding Action Group, Churches' Child Protection Advisory Service, and the Victoria Climbié Foundation, who will work closely together through the initiative.
"These organisations have a track record of addressing this complex and difficult human rights issue, often with very limited resources", says Bharat Mehta, Chief Executive of TfL and CPF. "This new initiative will sustain and develop their work in London and enable them to contribute to the safety, quality of life and well-being of children and to promote children's rights."
CPF and TfL will support funded organisations through an advisory group involving experts from relevant fields including the Metropolitan Police and child protection/children's services. An external evaluation will be commissioned to assess the impact of the funded work.
- Ends-
For more information about the initiative and the grants made, please contact
Rachael Takens-Milne, Field Officer (Special Initiatives) on 020 7606 6145 or
rtakensmilne@cityparochial.org.uk
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Developing Independent Domestic Violence Advocacy Services (IDVAs) in London
£1.6 million to tackle domestic violence In London
Posted 5 January 2006
£1.6 million to tackle domestic violence In London
Allocations totalling £900,000 over three years - backed by match funding of £700,000 so far - have been announced by City Parochial Foundation (CPF) and the Henry Smith Charity in their new special initiative to strengthen and improve the quality of independent domestic violence advocacy services (IDVAs) in four London boroughs.
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Further information about the Foundation can be found in a range of publications including annual Grants Reviews