Barking & Dagenham Giving

Registered charity 1166335 · since 2016bdgiving.org.uk·Barking and Dagenham·Updated 31 October 2026

At a glance

£122k

Annual giving, year to 31 March 2025

From filed accounts

Open to applications

Fixed application deadlines · unsolicited applications welcome

Key takeaways

Its work fits best where a project serves residents of Barking and Dagenham and backs local ideas, enterprises or assets, since it is a place-based funder that works alongside residents and does not fund work outside the borough.
Its figures suggest modest requests: the Nourish & Thrive Fund smaller grant is £6,583, the larger grant is £18,000, and the GROW Fund grant is £10,000, while its latest annual report shows £121,750 paid in total.
Before applying to the Nourish & Thrive Fund, check the eligibility rules, which require a written governing document, at least three unrelated people on the management committee, and a UK bank account needing two unrelated signatories, and apply through the fund page during an application window, since deadlines are fixed.
Answer clearly enough for decision-makers to follow, and ask someone you trust to read the application first, as the funder recommends.
Do not apply if your work is outside Barking and Dagenham, promotes political parties or is religious in aim, or is already covered by statutory services; GROW applicants must be trading, at least 18, have turnover below £350,000, and not have been successful in an earlier GROW round, and food-only organisations cannot receive the larger Nourish & Thrive grant.

Overview

Barking & Dagenham Giving is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (charity number 1166335).

BD Giving, the charity known as Barking & Dagenham Giving, exists to give people the power to create change. It is a place-based funder and investor that works alongside residents and combines grant-making with investment. Its programmes include the Give it a Go Fund, which offers small grants of up to £2,000, the GROW fund, its flagship fund for charities and social enterprises seeking repayable finance, and the Nourish & Thrive Fund. It also runs Spaces + Places, a £1 million community-led investment programme in which residents decide how local spaces can best serve the borough.

What they fund

Priority Areas

Barking & Dagenham Giving is a place-based funder and investor working alongside residents so money goes where it can have the greatest impact for local communities. It backs local ideas, enterprises and assets, and supports local businesses and social enterprises through funding, support and investment. Its work combines grant-making with investment and infrastructure development, while residents help design funds, shape programmes and decide how grants and investments are allocated. The foundation creates the conditions for people affected by funding decisions to take part in them, and develops its work through learning and innovation. It also works through partnerships, networks and collaboration to strengthen the borough’s social infrastructure.

Geographic Focus

Barking and Dagenham.

What they don't fund

Any work taking place outside of Barking and Dagenham
Any work which goes against the core values of Barking & Dagenham Giving (Collaboration, Inclusivity, and Sustainability) or our charitable purpose
Any work which promotes specific political parties or are aimed at carrying out specifically religious activities
Activities already delivered, or normally covered, by statutory services
Nourish & Thrive Fund — Larger grants of £18,000: running-costs grants only: Organisations whose work stops at food provision are not eligible. These grants are for organisations whose core purpose is helping residents live healthier lives through food
Nourish & Thrive Fund — Larger grants of £18,000 only: New ideas or pilot projects applying for a larger grant- new ideas should apply for the smaller grant
Nourish & Thrive Fund only:
- Work delivered outside Barking and Dagenham
- Organisations that are not one of the organisation types listed above
- Organisations that do not meet the eligibility requirements above (governing document, management committee, bank account)
- Any work which promotes specific political parties or are aimed at carrying out specifically religious activities
- Activities already delivered, or normally covered by statutory services
Nourish & Thrive Fund — eligible expenditure only:
- Political activity- lobbying or activity intended to influence Parliament, Government or political parties, or using grant funding to petition for additional funding. (Non-party-political campaigning about policy or practice is acceptable if it benefits the public.)
- Religious activity- activities of an exclusively religious nature. Faith organisations can be funded if the work benefits the wider community and doesn't include religious content
- Double funding- costs already being paid for by another funder. If someone else is covering a cost (or will), we can't fund it too
- VAT reclaimable from HMRC
- Land or buildings- purchase of land or buildings, or acquisition/improvement of fixed assets (unless the grant is explicitly for capital use)
- Gifts and entertaining- gifts to individuals over £25 per person per year
- entertainment that would be a taxable benefit
- Fines and penalties- statutory, criminal, or other
- Loan payments
- Private profit- activities that make profits for private gain
- Pre-existing liabilities - costs incurred before the grant agreement, unless agreed with us in writing

How to apply

For the Nourish & Thrive Fund, organisations are directed to submit an application through the fund page.

Deadlines: Applications must be received during an application window.

Who can apply:

GROW Fund
- Have not previously applied and been successful in any previous GROW fund rounds.
- Be at least 18 years old.
- Be currently trading.
- Have a turnover below £350,000 last year.
- Be willing and able to personally commit at least 10 hours a month to the GROW Lab business and network development programme.
- Have a clear ambition to develop your business through investment (which may be a business loan).
Nourish & Thrive Fund
- Charities registered with the Charity Commission; charitable incorporated organisations (CIO’s); community interest companies (CIC’s); companies limited by guarantee operating on a not-for-profit basis.
- Focus on food and promote health and wellbeing for Barking and Dagenham residents.
- Benefit borough residents: Organisations don’t need to be based in Barking and Dagenham, but the project must clearly serve local residents in Barking and Dagenham.
- Have an annual turnover of £300,000 or less in the last 12 month period, or your last published set of accounts (if this is relevant for you).
- Create inclusive and welcoming environments and demonstrate a positive impact on the community.
- Meet relevant food safety requirements. If your project involves preparing or handling food, you must have appropriately trained staff or volunteers and any required food hygiene certification in place before food-related activities begin.
- A written governing document (for example, a constitution, set of rules or trust deed); at least three unrelated people on your governing body or management committee; and a UK based bank account that requires the signatures of at least two authorised signatures, who are unrelated and do not live at the same address, to sign cheques or make a withdrawal.

What to send:

Nourish & Thrive Fund
- A written governing document (for example, a constitution, set of rules or trust deed).
- A UK based bank account.

Application success factors

What the charity says:

Applicants should answer clearly so decision-makers can understand what they are being asked to fund; they are encouraged to ask someone they trust to read the application beforehand.

Where they fund

Where it says it funds

Barking and Dagenham

Similar funders

Funders supporting work similar to Barking & Dagenham Giving.

Foundation for Future LondonFixed deadlinesGave £626k Merton ConnectedRollingGave £374k The Kensington + Chelsea FoundationFixed deadlinesGave £1.1M Barking and Dagenham Council for Voluntary ServicesNo public process East End Community FoundationInvitation onlyGave £1.3M Young Barnet FoundationInvitation onlyGave £383k Camden GivingMixed deadlinesGave £820k London City Airport Community FundFixed deadlinesGave £76,702 Merchant Taylors' FoundationMixed deadlinesGave £1.3M The Earl of Northampton’s CharityRollingGave £549k

Five years of accounts

Financial year	Income	Expenditure	Grants paid	Accounts document
year to 31 March 2021	£2,898,699	£3,407,913	—	Accounts for year to 31 March 2021
year to 31 March 2022	£3,975,016	£3,487,256	£104,632	Accounts for year to 31 March 2022
year to 31 March 2023	£67,979,710	£5,578,388	—	Accounts for year to 31 March 2023
year to 31 March 2024	£29,398,875	£13,238,670	—	Accounts for year to 31 March 2024
year to 31 March 2025	£63,110,771	£18,023,076	£121,750	Accounts for year to 31 March 2025

Income vs grants paid

IncomeGrants paid

Total value each financial year

YE 2022

£105k grants

YE 2025

£122k paid

Grants paid stayed within income across the 2 years shown.

Grants paid, year to 31 March 2022: grants to institutions, as reported on the charity register (Part B).
Grants paid, year to 31 March 2025: grants paid out in the year.

— No grants figure for those years.

Figures from the charity’s filed accounts and its register entry. The document icon links to the charity’s entry on the Charity Commission register, where its filed accounts can be found.