Stepping Forward
Our impact in 2022, partnering with small and local charities, people, and communities working towards a more just and compassionate society.
Read our Impact Report here or navigate our impact at a glance below
Chair of Board of Trustess, Ann Limb (left) and Chief Executive Paul Streets, (right)
"As we emerged from the pandemic and people, communities, and charities grappled with the longer-term impact of lockdowns and growing pressures on public services, we had no idea how 2022 would continue to test us all. Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II and rapidly rising living costs have left many unable to afford food or keep warm during the harsh winter, forcing them into hardship and some people into homelessness.
Once again, small and local charities stepped forward to provide a lifeline to people who had nowhere else to turn, providing warm spaces when their homes were uninhabitable, food when people couldn’t afford to eat, and support in rebuilding their lives.
What you will read in the pages that follow would not have been possible without the work of our staff, board, and the many volunteers from Lloyds Banking Group. In particular, we were delighted that the CEO of Lloyds Banking Group, Charlie Nunn, and Chairman, Robin Budenberg, prioritised working with us and witnessing for themselves the fantastic work of the charities we support. The years ahead will be difficult, but by working together, we believe we can build a more just and compassionate society for all."
- Paul Streets, Chief Executive, and Dame Ann Limb DBE DL, Chair of Trustees, Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales
£19.6m
awarded in funding in total
799
small and local charities supported through our grants programmes
1,257
development support offers provided to charities to strengthen and build resilience
Number of charities supported across England and Wales in 2022
We partner with small and local charities addressing some of society's most complex issues like homelessness, domestic abuse, addiction and dependency, helpingpeople to rebuild their lives. In total we supported 799 charities across England and Wales:
North East: 55 charities
North West: 104 charities
Yorkshire and Humber: 68 charities
East Midlands: 55 charities
Wales: 83 charities
West Midlands: 56 charities
East of England: 53 charities
London: 170 charities
South West: 74 charities
South East: 81 charities
Ben was at his lowest when he came to Handcrafted. He felt overwhelmed, and his mental health had led him to a point where he no longer wanted to live. Ben started coming to our Gateshead workshop, where he enjoyed being creative. As well as practical skills, Ben is learning how to manage his social anxiety. The Foundation grant is instrumental to this, it makes a huge difference to Ben, and all the people we work with.
Handcrafted Projects, Durham / Homelessness / £52,250 grant over two years.
Funding small and local charities
Small and local charities have been stretched to their limits to meet the ever-increasing demand. Despite these challenges and funding uncertainty, charities stepped forward as a lifeline for their communities.
They continue to support people facing the greatest challenges, helping them to rebuild their lives and fulfill their potential. By providing unrestricted funding and support to develop, we work alongside those who understand the complexity of the issues people face or the barriers they experience and are best placed to make a genuine difference to people’s lives.
Our offer of unrestricted funding and capacity-building support enabled small charities to adapt and evolve and continue to be a dependable resource.
£12.3m
awarded in new unrestricted grants to 265 small and local charities across England and Wales
28%
of which went to charities led by and for Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities
£1.5m
matched in fundraising efforts of Lloyds Banking Group staff, helping 1,193 charities
Supporting charities during the cost of living crisis
Thanks to Lloyds Banking Group, in December we were able to give an additional £2,250 to every charity that we were already funding.
Thank you so much for this generous grant, which is much needed to contribute towards CVS Tendring's fuel costs in particular. Our premises are being utilised as warm spaces for our local community at what is an extremely difficult time for so many people.
Quote from Community Voluntary Services Tendring, Essex / £32,250 grant, received the additional £2,250 cost of living payment in December.
Spotlight on Phoebe
Domestic abuse charity Phoebe, based in Ipswich, received a £52,250 grant over two years. They support around 350 women a year with specialist information, education, advocacy and counselling to survivors of female genital mutilation, human trafficking, and domestic violence.
"Our grant from Lloyds Bank Foundation was a two-way partnership. We were the experts, and we explored and adapted to where we could make the most impact rather than have a fixed instruction on what to do. And with the various conversations with our regional grant manager and the consultants she introduced us to, we reshaped and re-evaluated how we spent the money and were encouraged to use the funds creatively.
We have received non-financial support from funders in the past, but often it felt tokenistic and didn’t achieve results. The consultants we worked with as part of Lloyds Bank Foundation really listened to us. They met us where we were at that moment and took the time to get to know our organisation, supporting us through the sometimes difficult process of change and growth." - Mollin Delve, CEO, Phoebe
CEO Mollin Delve (left) with Lloyds Bank Foundation Regional Manager, Francis Warwick (right).
Women supported by Phoebe, a small and local charity based in Ipswich.
Women supported by Phoebe, a small and local charity based in Ipswich.
Supporting charities to develop
Charities have stepped up to keep people safe, warm, fed, and advocate for people’s rights. To ensure they can continue to support people facing complex issues, we provide a breadth of capacity building support to help charities grow stronger and more resilient.
Our capacity building support helps charities to develop their skills and capabilities around nine key areas. Charities can take up more than one type of development offer.
568
charities helped to build their capabilities and confidence with our development support offers
501
Lloyds Banking Group colleagues shared their skills and expertise with small and local charities
59
brought together through networking opportunities such as Peer Forums and Action Learning Sets
"Charity volunteering changed my future."
Rachel Holder, Head of HR Legal at Lloyds Banking Group, shares her journey to being a Trustee of Stafford based charity Re-Solv, which recieved a £52,250 grant over two years.
"It was great to meet the charity and work together. A small group from Lloyds Banking Group met with Stephen Ream, the charity's director, weekly to discuss our ideas. And when Steve stated in passing that an audit showed a need to strengthen the Trustee board's legal skills, I responded without hesitation. Being part of the charity became vital when I realised my legal experience could help with business decisions. I'd seen first-hand how important the charity was to families with nowhere else to turn, and I wanted to do more.
When I first joined Re-Solv, I had no idea how much I would benefit personally and professionally or how compelled I would feel to do more – it hooks you in a good way. I've gained new perspectives and assumed more responsibility. I can't stress enough the value and reciprocal benefit of bringing people from diverse industries together to solve problems and make connections that help people overcome deep-rooted challenges and fulfil their potential. " - Rachel Holder, Head of HR Legal at Lloyds Banking Group
Strengthening communities
The cost of living crisis, pandemic, and austerity have impacted many communities. But also evident is their strength. We are working with a number of communities across the country, helping bring people together to share and combine skills and resources, helping to ensure that everyone, no matter who they are or what they have experienced, feels supported.
We developed and deepened our People and Communities work in six places across England and Wales, working with partners across the voluntary and public sectors to tackle local issues.
We continued our partnership and investment in LocalMotion, working alongside five other funders on six community projects to bring people, organisations and institutions together.
We continued to support the Coordinated Community Support programme, focused on four areas, to improve welfare assistance
Telford at its Best community workshop, as part of the Foundation's work in six communities across England and Wales.
People and communities working together
In 2022, we continued to partner with six communities, bringing people together to tackle local issues, establishing ways to work together, building relationships through face-to-face engagement, and community members taking ownership of this work. People formalised ways of coming together and agreed on structures for working as a group. Importantly, we don't define what ‘impact’ looks like for the communities. They are doing that themselves, enabling people to make the changes they need rather than being led by external funding priorities.
Coordinated Community Support programme
We supported the Coordinated Community Support (CCS) programme with a grant of £600k between 2020–2022. Working with a range of partners and led by the Children's Society, the programme aimed to improve welfare assistance provided by local authorities by forming partnerships with the voluntary sector. This has created more referrals between the voluntary and community sector (VCS) and statutory organisations; agencies are working closer together and it has improved outcomes for people who use services, and the lessons have been shared with local and national policymakers.
Influencing policy and practice
Through funding, partnerships and our own influencing, we work with charities to speak up and ensure policy makers hear their voices, concerns and solutions to address the challenges charities and the people they support face.
Influence
Working with NCVO and other partners to
secure changes so that it better supports charities to engage in public service delivery.
Push for change
drawing attention to the problems of deductions from Universal Credit and calling for reform
16 charities
continue to support on influencing policy and practice in the criminal justice system, with additional funding to nine charities and increase their impact
Spotlight on welfare
In May 2021, we launched our report Deductions – Driver of Poverty, highlighting the concerns raised by our charity partners that too many people were facing sudden, confusing, unmanageable and unfair deductions from benefits, often through no
fault of their own, leaving them struggling to make ends meet. The issue was brought to life through River’s story who was helped by one of our charity partners. We presented the report to MPs and met with the Prime Minister’s advisers. It helped push deductions from Universal Credit up the agenda, working with and alongside other charity partners to keep pushing for action on deductions.
Almost half (44%) of those receiving universal credit have money automatically deducted, with an average of £78 a month withheld from their payments. For a single person aged over 25 that represents a fifth of their entitlement.
- Statistic from Lloyd's Bank Foundation for England and Wales Deductions: Driver of Poverty report
Meet Latin American Women's Rights Service (LAWRS)
Latin American Women's Rights Service (LAWRS) based in London received a £52,250 unrestricted grant, and a £113,605 three-year grant to influence national policy.
Click the above video to learn more about Latin American Women's Advice Service, how they champion the voices and experiences of Latin American women in the UK, and are supported by Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales.
With the additional grant [from the Foundation] and our campaigning, evidence and persistence, we improved migrant women's protections – by raising awareness and securing cross-party support for amendments to the Domestic Abuse Bill resulting in two compromise amendments by the government.
Gisela Valle, Director, Latin American Women's Rights Service (LAWRS)
Building a Better Future
Too many people experience injustice and inequality in our society and face barriers because of their gender, ethnicity, nationality or disability. Through our new five-year strategy, Building a Better Future (launched October 2022), we have set ourselves some ambitious goals to use our skills and resources where they are needed most and can make the most impact. Learn more below.
Read our 2022-2026 strategy: Building a Better Future, and how we will partner with small charities, people, and communities working towards a more just and compassionate society.
Over the past five years, funders and frontline charities have witnessed extraordinary social, health, and economic challenges. At the end of our Reaching Further strategy we reflected on what we learned, what worked well and the mistakes we made. Read these lessons in full in our "Lessons for Funder Practice" report.
Read the full report
The next few years are going to be difficult. The support we’ve received from the Foundation and the changes we have therefore been able to make over the last two years have meant Phoebe is now more secure as an organisation and in a strong position to support our community to work through the challenges ahead. We know we will be able to continue to support the women and children who need our help to learn to speak up for their rights, learn to read and write, volunteer, find employment and achieve independence.
Mollin Delve, Director of Phoebe, Ipswich / £52,250 grant over two years
