Collaborative Partner
Partnership to support work on citizenship and integration in London
The Citizenship and Integration Initiative (CII) is a pooled fund, led by Trust for London and involving four other funders, to support work on citizenship and integration in London. London is a rapidly changing city, but more than half of all Londoners born abroad don’t hold a British passport. There are thousands of young Londoners who have grown up in the capital but cannot access higher education or work because they have irregular migration status.
CII was formed in 2016 following the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, appointing a Deputy Mayor for Social Integration, Social Mobility, and Community Engagement. At its core, CII seeks to test a new model of cross-sector partnership working between the Mayor’s administration, civil society organizations, and independent philanthropic funders.
The main goals of CII are to: (1) Support Londoners to be active citizens – encouraging active citizenship and increasing voter registration; (2) tackling barriers and inequalities – supporting young Londoners and European Londoners to secure their legal rights; and (3) promoting shared experiences – creating a more hospitable environment.
The CII has two main approaches to try and meet its goals: The first is to fund secondments from civil society organisations into the Mayor’s Social Integration team, and the second is to support community-based projects that further the initiative’s goals.
The CII has now funded secondees from the GLA’s Social Integration Team from Migrants Organise, Citizens UK, Coram Children’s Legal Centre, Just for Kids Law (Let us Learn), New Europeans, Hope Not Hate and Project 17. An interest of the CII is the ability and role of civil society organisations to contribute their knowledge and expertise on social policy issues to the public policymaking process.
Since its inception, CII has distributed over £1 million to support the Mayor’s commitment to making social integration a core priority for his administration. The CII has contributed to a culture shift of more open working and deeper trust between different organizations and the Mayor’s office, particularly civil society organizations. Unbound was a founding partner in the pooled fund and CII advances our Strengthen Belonging strategy area.
Year Founded
2016
Collaborators
Trust for London, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, City Bridge Trust, Pears Foundation
I want every Londoner to be able to actively participate in the life of our great city – that’s why we are working to help them access their citizenship rights, have their say in the decisions that affect them and feel like they have the opportunity to get to know their neighbour. By joining forces with the Trust for London, civil society organisations and independent funders, we can bring together our collective expertise and networks to achieve real change for Londoners and reach our shared goal of making London the most inclusive and open city in the world.
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London
Pooled fund seeks to ensure all Londoners are able to be active citizens who are involved and invested in their city
Meet Our Other Collaboratives
Photos courtesy of Trust for London
We Are All Londoners: Celebrating our European Culture and Communities event held at City Hall, September 2019, credit Greater London Authority