Publications
On this page:
- Unlocking the Potential: Volunteers in Islington
- Invisible Islington: Living in Poverty in Inner London
Unlocking the Potential: Volunteers in Islington
Unlocking the Potential
A report for Cripplegate Foundation by the Institute for Volunteering Research
We believe that volunteering is potentially a very powerful way to address isolation and offer new opportunities. In 2009 we commissioned the Institute for Volunteering to test this – does volunteering make a difference to people’s lives. We asked them to look at the smallest groups in Islington, which have been funded through Islington Community Chest since 2006. The small grants programme involves over 1,500 volunteers who develop confidence, skills and networks through their involvement in grassroots organisations. Their contribution is worth over £1.7m a year.
We found that volunteers are not coming from outside Islington – they are found within communities, helping each other as neighbours. They can be unemployed, in ill health, retired, people new to the country who want to get to understand British culture, or local people who volunteer because family or friends need them to help. Volunteering has the biggest impact on people who are most vulnerable.
“I have done no volunteering and didn’t know any neighbours at all and I’ve lived here for ten years before I joined and it’s quite incredible that I can’t leave the house now without bumping into people, which is lovely. And that’s what I got from it more than anything else, the kind of community feeling, it’s very nice.”
Unlocking the potential interviewee
We are using the findings of the report to shape and influence our grant programmes. We are encouraging private and public sector organisations to increase the volunteering opportunities they offer. We are fostering links between small local groups and wider volunteering opportunities.
Download Unlocking the Potential: Volunteers in Islington
Executive Summary (PDF – 244K)
Full Report (PDF – 878K)
For further information please contact Kristina Glenn.
> Contact us
Invisible Islington: Living in Poverty in Inner London
A report for Cripplegate Foundation by Rocket Science UK Ltd
Invisible Islington
Islington is a borough of striking social extremes: London’s richest and poorest residents exist side by side, living entirely different lives.
Cripplegate Foundation commissioned research to shine a light on the poverty that exists in Islington, to explore the factors that make it so entrenched – ill health, dept, isolation and lack of opportunity – and to re-think the actions needed to tackle it. Throughout, the aim has been to go beyond the statistics and allow local people to tell their stories about the impact of poverty on their lives.
The report paints a picture of a divided borough in a divided city, where those living in poverty inhabit an invisible bubble – able to see but not reach the economic and social opportunities so conspicuously enjoyed by their neighbours.
We interviewed 29 local residents over a six-month period to gain a detailed understanding of the effects that poverty had on their lives. We also spoke to local policy-makers and practitioners involved in tackling poverty in the borough. The results provide a vivid snapshot of what it is like to be poor in 21st century Islington and expose the many inter-connected obstacles that make escaping that poverty so very difficult.
Download Invisible Islington: living in poverty in Inner London
Executive summary (PDF – 86k)
Full report (PDF – 2.78Mb)
For further information please contact Kristina Glenn.
> Contact us