Open Members’ Meeting | ‘Place’ | 6 November 2024

On 6 November, we hosted Neil Ritch and Stewart Murdoch to discuss the SGM strategic theme of ‘place’. A recording can be accessed at the end of this blog.

In attendance

• Sophie Mills WS (SGM Coordinator)

• Matthew Bruce (SGM Assistant Coordinator)

Present:

• Ali MacLachlan (SGM Chair / The Wood Foundation)

• Stewart Murdoch (The Alexander Moncur Trust)

• Neil Ritch (The National Lottery Community Fund)

• Blair Thomson (SGM Trustee / The Northwood Charitable Trust)

• Andy Duncan (The Gannochy Trust)

• Morag Neville (The Northwood Charitable Trust)

• Allan Farmer (The Corra Foundation)

• Elaine Gibb (William Grant Foundation)

• Melanie Hill (Scottish Power Foundation)

• Sarah Gilmour (Hymans Robertson Foundation)

• Emma Maher (Artemis Charitable Foundation)

• Gareth Morgan (The Paristamen Charity)

• Shona Blakeley (The Women’s Fund for Scotland)

• Jo Elliot (SGM Trustee / Binks Trust)

• Calum Mitchell (The Fyrish Foundation)

• Julie Christie (Environmental Funders Network)

• Marcella Boyle (Hyman Robertson Foundation)

• Alison Donaldson (The MacRobert Trust)

• Ian Penman (Fife Health Charity)

• Lisa Duthie (NHS Grampian Charity)

• Fiona Russell (The Gannochy Trust)

“Defining ‘place’ should start with the people who live there”

– Neil Ritch

Introduction to strategic theme

Ali MacLachlan, Chair of Scottish Grantmakers, opened the meeting by noting the differing ways in which the work of grant makers can be interpreted and developed over time. Reflecting on place, Ali considered her own charity’s remit in terms of place – being a Scottish grantmaker with both an international and local remit.

Place can encompass many different things including people, cultures, communities, geography and be on a global, national or local scale. Many of these themes are connected to discussions from previous Open Members’ Meetings in 2024 which focussed on culture and community. Delegates were encouraged to think about their own grant making and how it is influenced by their concept of place.

The National Lottery Community Fund – Neil Ritch

The meeting’s first speaker was Neil Ritch, Scotland Director at the National Lottery Community Fund, a large national grantmaker which awarded £686.3 million over 13,700 grants across the UK last year – with £52 million awarded to projects in Scotland. The nature of Neil’s role as a national director allowed him to present an update on trends, systems and developments related to place-based funding.

Neil began by outlining that 80% of the grants made by the NLCF are to grass root projects, closely connected to the local place where they are located. £23 million was invested through the Our Place project. This project considered places faced with challenges, but also opportunities, allowing funding to be targeted to support improving ‘places’ in a way that is right for there. A question was raised regarding what is a funder’s duty to ensure long-term sustainability? This is crucial for place-based funding as there are very often visible and tangible demonstrations of the impact of funding.

There is an important need to work together to ensure place-based funding goes to the right projects and is spent in the most effective way. As such, the ‘community’ element of ‘place’ is vital – funders need to work together and use existing networks, such as Scottish Grantmakers, to learn about what is needed where. ‘Start where you are, use what you have and do what you can.’

Funders must also consider the needs of the people in places. Place is not defined by postcodes, SIMD ratings or perceptions of deprivation but people and communities. Funders must engage with communities when making place-based funding, not base everything on perceptions of a place.

Lessons from the National Lottery Community Funds are:

•  Listen to the quieter voices in a place.

• If possible, build gradually – trust is a key element of working with communities.

• Picking places is an important part of working funders. The Fund did look at statistics but also the relationships and organisations which operate in a place.

• Consider how data, such as the recent census, can influence research into places.  

• Connection, visibility and building trust are key to working in any place.

Neil recognised that there is a lot to be proud of in current place-based funding practices. There is a lot of optimism in this area of funding. The variety of places in Scotland from remote island communities to busy city centre neighbourhoods require a need to adapt approaches to working in these locations.

There is a risk of losing strategy and consistency when considering ‘place’ which can be difficult for funders to adapt to. Sometimes the comfort blanket of national research and support is removed when focusing on the grass roots. Another question raised here is what do funders see as their own place within communities.

Communities do not necessarily link to a physical place. Neil reflected on the need to also consider the communities which are linked by other means such as culture, traditions or beliefs (which may be influenced by a place) but cannot be defined by a common physical place.

“As a community, if [grantmakers] did not help, it would be at risk.”

– Stewart Murdoch

The Alexander Moncur Trust – Stewart Murdoch

The second speaker at this meeting was Stewart Murdoch, Chair of The Alexander Moncur Trust. The Trust is an historic charity established with very open objectives to serve Dundee and its environs. In contrast the work of the National Lottery Community Fund, the Alexander Moncur Trust has a very specific locality built into its constitution. Stewart’s presentation shared some of the dilemmas Trustees face when working within a specified geographical area.

Stewart began by reflecting the Alexander Moncur Trust’s charitable purposes: to serve Dundee and its environs. It is very clear that the Trust was established to serve a place and the people therein. However, having a defined place in your charitable purposes is not as straightforward as might be expected. Even where a place has been stated, a charity must still decide the parameters of where that ‘place’ extends to. Stewart raised the definition of ‘environs’ as being particularly challenging when considering applications from organisations outside of the city itself.

To reach a decision, the Trustees consider the level of support being requested by applicants and the reasonableness of funding certain places as well as the usual due diligence carried out by grantmakers. These decisions are amplified, Stewart noted, due to the Trust’s smaller scale – the Trust has an income of around £300,000 and spends over £420,000 on charitable activities. Over 150 applications are received by the Trust in a year, with funding available for only 50. Each application requires the Trustees to consider their position within the place set out in the Trust’s charitable purposes and the needs of the communities in Dundee and its environs.

Stewart presented data on the most recent round of successful applications. He reflected on the Trust’s ability to fund a wide thematic range of projects – with their place being of primary concern, rather than other eligibility criteria. This allowed the Trust to fund projects in Dundee’s local area which benefited all ages and for a wide range of purposes.

Stewart discussed one of the eligibility criteria required by the Trust, that applicants must be a registered charity. This can be challenging as there are an increasing number of organisations in local communities which are not charities for several reasons but carry out work for public good. This problem of determining eligibility for organisations is one faced by many grantmakers and will be of interest in the coming years as charity regulation changes. Another key issue identified was the increasing number of applications requesting core funding. Local organisations working within a place are now increasingly in need of core funding as NHS and local authority funding and services is cut.  

Now, the trust has begun to fund projects which Dundee City Council would have previously provided. The Trust has also funded national charities, despite it being a local place-based funder, which are offering services for the people of Dundee. At the heart of the Trustees’ decision-making process is a consideration of the sustainability and aspirations of local organisations in Dundee.

Facilitated discussion

Following excellent presentations from Neil and Stewart there was an in-depth discussion amongst delegates about how ‘place’ affects their operations. Key themes within that discussion were:

• Engaging with partners within a common space and theme.

• Community connector roles within the grantmaking process and the need to make real connections with applicants.

• The difficulty stepping into roles previously filled by local authorities and an increasing dependence on successful applicants for ongoing core funding.

• Challenging power imbalances as part of the grantmaking processes.

• How funders include ‘place’ within their multi-year strategies.

• The challenge of juxtaposing places and needs within a small country like Scotland.

“Locality and community are the main building blocks of civic life in Scotland.”

-        Neil Ritch

Click this thumbnail to view the recording of Neil and Stewart’s presentations. You will be taken to the private Youtube channel.