Guest blog: Emma Plouviez from City.COM who is supporting the community team 

The City of London has under 10,000 residents – which is about the same population as one ward in any other London local authority. The majority live in the Barbican area, in the two famous architectural landmarks of the Barbican Estate and Golden Lane Estate. The other population concentration  is in the east of the City, around Aldgate, at the Middlesex St and Mansell St estates.

People living in the City are generally happy to live there, happy with the services and resources that are available to them, and feel well-supported by the City of London Corporation – and this is perhaps also a reflection of the fact that they are generally  not economically deprived and can expect continuing good health . However, as in any urban community, there are homeless and  marginalised people; there are lonely, isolated and unwell people. And in the east of the City, there is a concentration of  poverty and ill-health in Portsoken Ward which places it in the top 25% most deprived areas (‘lower layer super-output area’ as defined by the Office for National Statistics).

The City of London also takes seriously its responsibility for those less-well off communities which surround it. The City Fringe Partnership (CFP) was established as an economic development and regeneration partnership in 1996. Set up by the City of London Corporation and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets,  it was soon joined by Hackney and Islington and Camden.  The CFP's principal objectives were to increase economic growth and social inclusion in the area to the north and east of the City of London, which includes some of the most deprived communities in the country.

2011 Lord Mayor Sir Michael Bear at the launch of the Portsoken Community Center in June 2011

So, how can ‘getting involved’ help? There are numerous small community organisations in the City and City Fringe – as well as many larger ones – who provide those extra services and resources  which help keep people engaged, involved, supported, challenged, advised, housed  … doing  things together! And these organisations need help and support – perhaps more now than for many years, as austerity bites, social need multiplies and the public sector shrinks ever more. You could become a trustee of a small charity and bring new ideas and skills to the board;  mentor a young person  and change their vision for the future; spend one hour a week helping a child learn to read; take your turn on a helpline for older people; look into ‘virtual volunteering’; help teach coding to kids; learn how to give money advice; spend the night making food in a homeless shelter  

If you want to find out more and get involved please contact the JCI London Community Director Soraya Bowen
Email:soraya.bowen@jciuk.org.uk