Community Foundation annual report 2020/21

We have published our Peabody Community Foundation (PCF) Annual Report, 2021.

Published: 18/10/2021

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Our residents continued to be at the centre of our provision with some of the most vulnerable members of the community supported the most throughout the pandemic.

The pandemic has hit residents on low-incomes the hardest. Our latest Index found that one in three (34%) of working residents earn below the London Living Wage with low pay, job loss and fewer working hours reducing the incomes of 38% of our working-age residents. One in five of our residents are either taking out a loan or using credit they are having trouble paying back simply to buy essentials.

The Foundation’s annual report shows how our teams had to quickly mobilise to support residents, setting up the new Resident Wellbeing Programme to respond to critical needs of residents. We distributed over £1.25 million in grants to support community organisations to respond to the impact of the pandemic and support the ongoing delivery of grassroots community groups. This helped local groups to mobilise and respond to local priorities in an effective way.

Residents experiencing unemployment or furlough as a result of the pandemic were supported by our Tenant and Family Support and Financial Inclusion teams, with 2,500 people supported as a result.

Other key achievements for the fund in 2020/21 included:

• £8m invested to support residents and wider communities through the Peabody Community Foundation
• £1.25m in grants to support community organisations
• 850 Community and Peabody employee volunteers gave their time to make a difference to our communities
• 536 people supported into jobs and apprenticeships
• Over 21,000 welfare calls made to residents
• Over 7,000 emergency food parcels delivered to vulnerable residents

Stephen Burns, our Executive Director of Care and Communities, said: “We are proud of the achievements of the Peabody Community Foundation and the incredible work that it has done in the past year to support some of our most vulnerable communities. Our teams have worked hard delivering vital services and developing their expertise and working with our partners to ensure that despite the restrictions, we continued to support our communities.

“We know that the challenges are far from over, but we are committed to supporting people living in our neighbourhoods through these challenging times. We will continue to work with our partners to innovate and adapt our services to ensure communities get the support they need when they need it.”

The vision

The Peabody Community Foundation aims to tackle key issues that affect communities including child poverty, homelessness, unemployment and violence affecting young people. The Foundation’s vision is to ensure residents and communities are healthier, wealthier and happier, with the opportunity to realise their ambitions. To deliver on this, the Foundation works at four levels: direct delivery, indirectly through partnership with others, mobilising the community and working to achieve change at strategic level through our influencing activities.

Peabody Community Foundation Annual Report, 2021