The unique hurdles faced by Black community leaders mean that many are forced to close beneficial community services or exist in constant fear of closure.

In April 2023, we surveyed 93 Black-led lived experience leaders of charities and social enterprises to assess the real impact of the cost of living crisis. You could say that they were facing a, “desert without resources” and not much has changed since. The survey revealed that 59% of respondents shared that they could not operate beyond 6 months and 44% did not believe that funders have their best interest at heart during this crisis. We can’t keep going like this. In response to this breakdown of trust between our community and its funders, we built London Now Now.

Over the years, we have provided meaningful solutions to Black leaders of charities and social enterprises, focusing our work on the nuance and intersectional needs of the communities that they work in. The crises have led to a higher demand for care in both depth and variety from service users that most organisations are not able to deliver and most funders and not able to support. It has felt like hands are tied on every side and those bearing the brunt of these inefficiencies and issues in the charity sector are the people who depend on the services that Black community leaders are desperate to deliver.

As a convener and organisation committed to open innovation, we have spent the past year working with Black leaders and funders alike to understand where the gaps are, what the opportunities are and how we can create a space for collaboration and better outcomes than what so many have been experiencing. We believe that to rebuild the trust that has been lost, and fortify Black-led organisations so that we are no longer plagued by cyclical crises and fears of closure, we must invest in local leadership. By taking our rightful place as pillars in our local communities, Black leaders of charities and social enterprises will be able to tap into the existing resources, influence the allocation of those resources through participatory means and inspire their service users to become more involved in speaking up for what becomes a priority locally as councils continue to redefine their responsibilities for ensuring the continued delivery of high-quality social services.

We understand that good relationships between organisations and funders depend on more than capacity building and cash, it is also interconnectedness and the co-production of systems. We are committed to supporting 30,000 Black leaders to exist outside of the cycles of crises, fortify their operations, increase the scope of their impact in response to the expressed needs of their service users and contribute meaningfully to the infrastructure in their local communities so that it is fit for purpose for those most in need.

To do this work, we will partner directly with Black community leaders influencing at the grassroots level. We will gather, amplify and equip them to move beyond the crises into a legacy of incredible impact for their local community.