Good morning everyone. Thank you for that kind introduction. It is great to be here with you this morning at the Giving and Impact summit. Thank you to Integra for organising this forum, to the London Stock Exchange for hosting us, and to everyone here today. Your presence here demonstrates your shared interest and belief in the power of philanthropy and impact investment to achieve social good. This Government shares this passion and recognises the vital role the Impact Economy can play in helping to drive stronger economic growth across the country, alongside our ambitious Plan for Change. I intend to set out briefly today how we can work in partnership to achieve this.
A remarkable 15 billion pounds was donated to charities last year; of course we can go further. I have seen this first hand in my own constituency of Barnsley South, quite a deprived area. Whether that be Barnsley Hospice that raises £3.6 million per year and relies on donations to care for people and their families at the most difficult time of their lives or Barnsley Youth Choir which receives donations of over £300,000 annually, they focus on advancing musical education for young people in Barnsley and surrounding areas, and in their short existence have become one of the world’s leading youth choirs.
Charitable giving and philanthropic investment builds on the British spirit of generosity that was outlined in the intro. Extending to our impact investment market, which has grown significantly over the past decade and leads the way in Europe. This growing market is worth over 76 billion pounds, demonstrates people’s strong desire for a connection between their investments and tangible social impact. Now as the Minister responsible for philanthropy and the Impact Economy, I have seen first-hand the remarkable work being done in this area and the vast potential for increasing funds invested in public good. It was a real pleasure and a real eye opener to visit Made-in-Stoke last year for Giving Tuesday, an initiative focused on building a community of individuals eager to give back to Stoke.
That brings me onto government, and the important role we play in creating an ecosystem that stimulates increased investment and delivers for communities up and down the country. The most pressing social and environmental challenges facing the nation require us to work together, with different forms of capital, to achieve lasting change. We want to work more closely with all of you here today, to tackle these challenges and boost inclusive growth. That is why we established the Social Impact Investment Advisory Group earlier this year. Both myself and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury were really pleased to attend its first meeting. This group of experts brings together individuals from across the impact investment, philanthropy and civil society sectors, and will provide recommendations later this year on how the government can effectively mobilise more social impact capital. The group has also been advising on the Social Impact Investment Vehicle announced at the Autumn Budget, to support delivery of the Government’s top priorities and to tackle those complex social problems. The advisory group is the first step in our commitment to establishing a stronger, and more ambitious, partnership with Impact Economy. We will continue to build on this, as our recently published Industrial Strategy demonstrates. This sets out our clear intention to deepen collaboration with the Impact Economy to deliver inclusive and sustainable growth, and in particular partner with the philanthropy sector.
I have heard from many of you that more can be done to grow philanthropic investment in this country. That is why, earlier this year, I outlined my three priorities to support this:
Firstly, the Government wants to connect philanthropic investment with the places that need it most – through place-based philanthropy. The Secretary of State has committed to the development of a place-based philanthropy strategy. This will set out a vision for how we can harness philanthropy to drive economic growth and regenerate our communities.
Second, we want to unlock extra philanthropic investment by making it as easy as possible for philanthropists to give more, and for would-be philanthropists to give for the first time.
And finally, we want to partner with civil society, communities, donors and businesses to celebrate a culture of giving.
Let me end today by saying that this Government acknowledges the immense contribution social investors, philanthropists, and businesses make, and we want to see this go further. Thank you all once again for inviting me to join you today, and I hope the rest of the summit is a success.
