Government sets out roadmap to spread philanthropic investment beyond London
Howard Lake | 13 April 2026 | News
The UK government has published a new strategy to direct more philanthropic giving to England’s most disadvantaged communities, with particular focus on reducing the concentration of funding in London and the South East.
Our Place to Give: a roadmap to grow place-based philanthropy, published today by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), sets out a three-pillar plan to connect donors with local causes, build stronger partnerships between philanthropists and public bodies, and unlock further investment into underserved areas.
The problem the roadmap is trying to solve
Despite an estimated £14 billion being donated to charity across the UK in 2025 (Charities Aid Foundation, UK Giving 2026), the benefits have not been shared equally. London currently receives more than a third of all funding from the largest philanthropic foundations, and four times the value of Gift Aid donations compared to the UK average.
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At the same time, the opportunity is significant. By 2050, between £5 trillion and £7 trillion is expected to pass from older to younger generations in the UK. Sector research estimated that if all high-net-worth individuals donated 1% of their investible assets (compared to the current 0.4%), an additional £12 billion would flow to charities annually.
What the roadmap commits to
The plan, which covers England, is backed by £1 million of government funding over three years, allocated from 2026/27, with DCMS setting out full allocation details by Summer 2026.
Key commitments include:
- A community of practice to help organisations across England share expertise, attract investment, and build sustainable economic growth.
- A network of regional philanthropic ambassadors will be appointed to broker connections between philanthropists, communities, and government.
- The government will also work with the financial services sector to embed philanthropic advice into wealth management, noting that 81% of high-net-worth individuals say it is very or extremely important for financial advisers to raise philanthropy proactively, yet only a third have experienced their advisers doing so (Barclays, 2025).
- A new toolkit is also being launched for MPs to help them champion local giving and create environments for generosity in their constituencies.
Three pillars
The roadmap is structured around three pillars:
- connecting philanthropy with place;
- establishing better philanthropic partnerships;
- and unlocking further investment.
It sits within the government’s wider impact economy agenda, driven by the new Office for the Impact Economy, and is intended to complement the £5.8 billion Pride in Place programme. This is the UK government’s initiative to invest into hundreds of disadvantaged neighbourhoods over 10 years.
The report features an introduction by Stephanie Peacock MP, Minister for Sport, Tourism, Civil Society and Youth, who says:
“Our vision is to build an ambitious, long-term partnership with philanthropists to deliver tangible and lasting renewal that is both felt and seen within our communities. This will represent a fundamental shift and a genuinely new approach to working together…
“We will make it easier for partnerships to flourish at both the national and regional levels. We will work to foster an environment of mutual respect and trust, ensuring philanthropic voices are brought into the early stages of policy design and implementation, utilising their expertise, insight and experience to tackle some of the most pressing and challenging societal issues across this country”.
Case studies
The roadmap features a range of case studies. These include:
- the North East Roots initiative, launched in 2023 by the Community Foundation North East, which manages the UK’s largest Community Foundation endowment, exceeding £100 million.
- the Rigby Foundation’s Inspiring Futures programme, a £3 million partnership developed in consultation with the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and Birmingham City Council, in which 10 local schools and colleges are paired with leading charities for three years.
- London’s Giving, a network of place-based giving initiatives, that in 15 years has grown from one to over 25 initiatives across the capital.
- the Vardy Foundation partnered with the match-funding platform Big Give to provided £101,000 in match funds to create a geographically restricted allocation within the national Christmas Challenge campaign. The fund raised a total of £479,000 for 15 North East charities, achieving a 4.7x multiplier through public donations and Gift Aid.
- Bath Women’s Fund is a philanthropic giving circle that demonstrates how collective action can effectively direct capital toward localised social challenges. Founded in late 2018, the initiative operates on a democratic ‘pooled funding’ model where members contribute monthly, typically £25 – to award significant annual grants to local organisations supporting women and girls. It has grown to 84 active members.
Sector response
The roadmap has drawn broad support from organisations across the charitable and philanthropic infrastructure.
Mark Greer, Managing Director of the Charities Aid Foundation, welcomed the strategy as “a much needed step towards reviving giving up and down the country”, adding that the government’s recognition of philanthropic infrastructure “must be the starting point to strengthen and grow this crucial layer of the giving ecosystem.”
Carol Mack OBE, Chief Executive of the Association of Charitable Foundations, said the roadmap “sends a clear signal that government understands it has a key role to play in helping place-based generosity go further, in every corner of the country”, while noting that deep geographic inequalities persist despite the significant work foundations already undertake locally.
Emma de Closset, CEO of UK Community Foundations, said the roadmap “strengthens the connections between donors, communities and the local organisations enabling change on the ground”, and welcomed the recognition of community foundations’ role in catalysing place-based giving.
Cath Dovey CBE of New Philanthropy Capital said the plan recognised “the importance of local knowledge and deep commitment to supporting communities to thrive”, and called for greater partnership between government, local authorities, charities, and donors to amplify philanthropic impact.
From philanthropists themselves, Steve Rigby, Chair of The Rigby Foundation, drawing on his family’s charitable experience in the West Midlands, described the roadmap as providing a clear pathway for unlocking investment into communities.
John Nickson, who co-funded a pilot in one of Blackpool’s poorest wards, said it demonstrated what place-based philanthropy can achieve when local charities, schools, and businesses work together, with the project now being expanded across Blackpool with National Lottery support.
Rory Brooks, Chair of the Philanthropist Reference Group and Board Member of the Charity Commission for England and Wales, called it “a landmark announcement”, noting that it “builds on and celebrates the UK’s strong philanthropic tradition and regulatory framework.”
Nathan Gamester, Managing Director of the CSJ Foundation said: “The ‘Our Place to Give’ roadmap rightly recognises that the most important ideas for tackling poverty and social breakdown come from local, grassroot experts, and that philanthropy is at its most effective when it backs these social entrepreneurs long-term.
“This is what we see day in, day out at the CSJ Foundation through our alliance of 1,000 grassroots charities, and what we called for in our latest policy report, Supercharging Philanthropy, informed by 220 philanthropists across the UK and backed by some of Britain’s biggest donors.
He was pleased to see the Foundation’s policy recommendations reflected in the roadmap, “including implementing a ‘think philanthropy’ approach, the strategic use of match funding, convening place-based philanthropy ambassadors, and strengthening the provision of philanthropic advice in the financial service sector”.
The Chartered Institute of Fundraising’s response
Ceri Edwards, Executive Director of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, welcomed the roadmap and pointed to the importance of implementation:
“If delivered properly, this roadmap could increase both the amount and reach of giving across the UK. The key will be taking a joined-up approach, bringing government, philanthropists, and civil society together around a shared goal, rather than treating them as separate parts of the system.”
Edwards also noted that the roadmap reflected what the Chartered Institute’s members have been raising, particularly the need to build a culture that “recognises and values generosity”, on the grounds that visible, understood, and supported giving encourages more giving.
Next steps
“To ensure accountability”, DCMS states that it will update on its progress in delivering this roadmap to the Impact Economy Inter-Ministerial Board. DCMS will also “use the board to work with other government departments and highlight opportunities for departments to support the objectives and outcomes of the roadmap’.
It also states that its work in this regard will be based on three principles:
- The government will not, and should not, seek to dictate how philanthropists choose to pursue their giving, and the causes they support (sometimes known as the principle of additionality).
- Philanthropy can play a complementary role to public money, but is not a substitute for state funding.
- DCMS recognises that local and on-the-ground partners are best placed to make decisions about their own communities.
Delivery remains the test
Steve Morgan CBE, Founder and Chairman of the Steve Morgan Foundation, perhaps put it most directly: “We know place-based giving works because we’ve been doing it for 25 years. Now the job is making sure this roadmap leads to real investment, not just good intentions.”
Our Place to Give: a roadmap to grow place-based philanthropy is available in full at gov.uk.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.