Co-design in action: Grenfell Projects Fund 

Grenfell Projects Fund

The Grenfell Projects Fund offers grants to support North Kensington’s community-led recovery. A total of £600,000 was rewarded for successful projects for the 2024 to 2025 funding round. Since 2019, the fund has supported 100 projects across three rounds.  These include environmental initiatives, cultural programmes and community-led employment schemes.

Co-designing the fund with residents

For the 2024 to 2025 round, the council worked in partnership with a Resident Panel made up of seven North Kensington residents, each representing a different ward. Together, they co-designed the grant-making process from the ground up.

The Resident Panel played a key role in:

• shaping grant themes, priorities, and principles

• designing the application and scoring process

• assessing applications, creating shortlists, and monitoring projects

• reviewing communications material for the wider North Kensington community

Embedding community voices

By involving residents at every stage, the panel acted as a "critical friend" to the officers. Their involvement ensured that the residents’ lived experience carried as much weight as professional knowledge.

Officers received live feedback and resident-led ideas and challenges throughout the process. This approach helped the grant programme stay focused and relevant to the community.

North Kensington residents voted on the 26 shortlisted projects, which closed on Sunday 16 February. See which projects were successful in the 2024 to 2025 round.
 
This round of Grenfell Projects Fund demonstrates how by co-designing the process with the people who will benefit from it can only make a project better. Using knowledge and expertise held by local people is a vital part of ensuring the Council makes the right decisions. That’s why we are increasingly working in a way that reflects the lived experiences of those people who live, work and learn in Kensington and Chelsea, and providing routes of communication for local people to have your say.

Co-design is an excellent way of working collaboratively with our communities. It gives residents the space to actively shape and improve local services, fostering a sense of ownership and involvement. 

You might see promotional material online and in person featuring the Your Community Your Voice badge, like this one. When you spot this, it means there is an opportunity for you to get involved and have your say.