We need your help to build a Talent Rich London.

Any donation brings us closer to our goal, and helps us demonstrate support from the community!

TL:DR synopsis: 

• London's grassroots community needs an online tool that can help them to plan and respond better during an emergency.  This tool should be managed by ordinary people, and meet their unique needs.
• Talent Rich CIC wants to help London communities be more self-reliant, and to accomplish more with the resources they have – to do so, they need to know what resources they can reach.
• We're launching a Talent Rich London to help communities to organise themselves with the help of a birds-eye view of civic society.

Got a couple of minutes?  Watch our video, "Welcome to a Talent Rich London" to find out why we're doing this.

What to get a bit more in-depth about what we're doing, and why?  Watch our video, "10 Minutes with a Talent Rich London."

>> What is Talent Rich London?

Talent Rich London will be a free and grassroots-led community platform —mapping volunteers, groups, programmes, projects, and resources.  Platform members (volunteers and community members) will have space to collaborate, share information, and network, as well as access to mentors and training.

Talent Rich London will help online visitors, volunteers, disaster responders, community groups, and numerous partners to visualise the ever-changing shape of civic society across the city.

>> Why does London need this platform?

Having consulted with hundreds of community leaders since the Grenfell  fire, it has become obvious that there’s a single tool that would benefit all community organizers;  an online solution providing a birds-eye view of activity around the neighbourhood.

       ...In essence, we’re currently missing a map of what’s happening.

Being able to see “who’s doing what?” is critical to ensuring that nothing and no one falls through the cracks.  Getting quick answers to important questions can make all the difference to serving vulnerable populations -- especially during a crisis.

>> What kind of questions are we talking about?

That list just scratches the surface -- so much of organising is made possible by being able to see the big picture.  Until then, we're operating in the dark.

>> Who is Talent Rich?

Talent Rich CIC is a women-led and Black-led social change company.  Our founder grew up on the streets of West London and has been a longtime community organiser; our Programme Director is a veteran of enterprise technology teams at PwC and Apple.  The partnership enables our company to focus on facilitating collaboration between grassroots community volunteers, local government, and funded organisations -- in part by supporting the community with digital infrastructure.

Talent Rich wants to champion grassroots leaders, and be part of creating world-class, cross-cultural, colourful public programmes – where the imagination of community Talent takes centre stage.

Our core business activities include developing and delivering community digital infrastructure and events, civic society research, creating strategic partnerships, and cross-organisational project management.

>> So what do you need to get started?

£30,000 will get Talent Rich London up and running for the first year, including the following:

Platform Hosting - we’ll have expert support from another non-profit enterprise to design and implement our ambitious platform .

Site Moderation - Individuals with enhanced DBS-clearance will help monitor community engagement and safeguarding throughout the site.

Grassroots Leader Consultation - where we listen to local experts to ensure we’re building an inclusive and useful platform.

Project Work & overhead - supporting the Talent Rich team to get the job done.

>> Stretch Goal

An additional £20,000 will let us focus on platform inclusion and boosting participation.

We will bring together community leaders and experts to imagine and implement networking, discussion, and learning events which can be hosted virtually.

Outreach workers are specialists in the world of community organising;  they have developed extensive networks and on-the-ground intelligence for their areas.  They are key to identifying and engaging hidden and overlooked community groups.

Groups like DASH or Refugee Action, and other specialised volunteers and groups, will be asked to help monitor digital Safe Spaces created within the platform.

Finally, the work of building and implementing new partnerships will be significant to expanding the level of support found on the platform, and improving inclusion.

>> Anything else to share?

We've set up this crowdfunding campaign as a "Keep what we raise" because we ARE going to build this platform.  It's needed by too many people, and it was needed in April when organisers were desperately trying to get the shape of the COVID response during lockdown.  

We firmly believe in a Talent Rich London, and know this platform is needed immediately to help the ongoing COVID-19 response.  We hope you’ll also see its value, and help us launch as soon as possible!

Please help us bring Talent Rich London online!