Grosvenor Property UK’s Community Investment Programme exceeds £1m grant giving target in just two years. 

Today, Grosvenor’s UK property business announces it has invested £1 million in Greener Futures – its programme focused on improving lives by helping communities take climate action and creating access to training and jobs in the green economy. This milestone has been achieved two years ahead of schedule, in part thanks to the success of fundraising by employees and suppliers. At its halfway stage, the ‘Greener Futures’ programme has already supported 38 projects and engaged 35,000 people. 

The theme of this year’s International Day for Biological Diversity is ‘Be part of the Plan’, asserting that everyone has a role to play in addressing biodiversity loss and restoring ecosystems. To help achieve this objective, we need to raise greater awareness of the climate crisis and provide communities with the resources and opportunities to act.  

Part of the company’s People and Planet Positive commitment to sustainability, the four-year Greener Futures programme runs until the end of 2025 and aims to do exactly that. It supports training for jobs in the green economy, enables community-led climate action, and improves young people’s access to nature. 

Between 2022 and 2023 alone, the Greener Futures programme has:

• Educated 5,000+ people across the 38 projects on the climate emergency. Among other initiatives, funding has enabled partners like Green Schools Project to deliver educational programmes on environmental issues at schools.
• Enabled 1,000+ people to use a local public space for the first time, created 388 new habitats, and planted more than 100 trees.
• Donated 3,390 volunteering hours to improve public spaces in some of the most deprived postcodes in London’s borough of Westminster. These efforts have helped improve 6,500 sq. m of public space.
• Provided 62 unemployed Westminster residents with access to training, new qualifications, skills, and confidence. Trainees on the programmes we are funding - Westminster Wheels and Groundwork’s Green Team - have helped give a second life to over 2,000 bikes (400 of which have been donated to local individuals and groups) and maintain over 13 hectares of green space in Westminster.
• Secured long-term employment for 38 people.

Kate Nottidge, Director of Social Impact, Grosvenor Property UK commented:

“Greener Futures is an important part of how we can have a positive and tangible impact on people’s lives – a core goal of our social impact commitments – whilst also benefiting the environment. Our original intention was for Greener Futures to be a £1 million commitment over four years but, halfway through, and we have already been able to grant funds above and beyond our original expectations. This is all thanks to the efforts of our people and our partners.”

The programme is delivered together with charity partners, the London Community Foundation, Groundwork, and the Westminster Foundation. Beyond Greener Futures, Grosvenor Property UK donates c £1m per annum to local charities and projects via the Westminster Foundation.

Mark Fisher, a trainee with Groundwork’s Green Team, shared:

“Before joining the Green Team, I had been unemployed for a year and recovering from a health scare. I am happy to have left the job centre and to be working again.”

Tom Hague, Development Lead, Green Schools Project adds:

“Grosvenor’s funding has been critical to our Zero Carbon programme delivering positive climate action in schools. Grosvenor has also opened doors to partnering with other organisations like Groundwork in our mission to help schools and young people act positively on climate change. Because they’re a connector of organisations, the impact is really catalytic.”

Having hit its funding target early, Grosvenor is now seeking to deliver further impact by supporting more community impact projects and evolving its trainee programme with Groundwork to help address the green skills gap. This includes opening up Groundwork’s Westminster Wheels and Green Team programmes to people with learning or physical disabilities through Westminster Employment Service’s Fairer Economy Wage Subsidy Programme.

About Grosvenor

Grosvenor is an international organisation whose activities span urban property, food and agtech, rural estate management and support for philanthropic initiatives.

We are a values-led business which represents the Grosvenor family and share a common purpose - to deliver lasting commercial, social and environmental benefit - addressing today’s needs while taking responsibility for those of future generations.   

With a track record of over 340 years, we work to improve urban property and places in many of the world’s leading cities, promoting sustainability within the built environment and enhancing the wellbeing of customers and communities. 

Our UK property business supports c1,000 businesses and tens of thousands of residents and workers across London’s West End each day. We also invest in, create and manage sustainable neighbourhoods in Liverpool and across England. As a 1.5oC aligned company, pioneering change and new ways of thinking about property we aim to ensure our places benefit both people and the planet over the long term.

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