London

In 2019, London was a finalist for the Cities of Service Engaged Cities Award for its online crowdfunding platform. The award elevates city-led strategies that most successfully engage citizens to help create and implement solutions to pressing local problems. To harness community members’ ideas and integrate them into the regeneration of their neighborhoods, the city provided an online crowdfunding platform, offered design and planning advice, and pledged up to £50,000 for promising initiatives.

Volunteering can break down barriers between people, helping to bring communities together and boost social mobility through skills-based service. Volunteering not only builds confidence, but helps the next generation reach their full potential – regardless of their background, race, religion, or gender. Volunteering engages communities and creates active citizens by giving them a stake in society, creating a more productive, healthy, and prosperous city.

Improving London’s social integration is one of the mayor’s top priorities. He describes it as one of the 21st century’s biggest challenges and has created a strategy to address it.

Read the Team London Young Ambassadors, 2Work, and HeadStart London Blueprints to learn more.

London has been a member of the Cities of Service coalition since 2011, when former Mayor Boris Johnson signed the Declaration of Service.