Beyond the Cliff Edge: A Roadmap to Sustainability for London's Black-Led Organisations (2025)
Black-led social enterprises and charities are essential drivers of change in London, addressing deep-rooted social inequities and providing critical support to their communities. However, they continue to face systemic barriers that limit their growth, sustainability, and ability to influence the policies and funding structures that shape their work.
This report examines these challenges through four key areas: capacity building, local leadership, advocacy and influencing, and community wealth.
While the report focusses on London-based organisations, the findings are relevant across the wider UK.
Capacity Building: Strengthening Black-Led Organisations for the Long Term
Black-led organisations play a critical role in their communities, but unequal access to funding, governance constraints, and financial barriers restrict their ability to grow and sustain their impact. The findings emphasise that long-term, unrestricted funding, participatory decision-making, and access to training in governance, financial literacy, and impact measurement are essential to overcoming these barriers.
Local Leadership: Elevating Black-Led Organisations in Decision-Making
Despite being hubs for leadership and innovation, Black-led organisations often struggle to gain access to decision-making spaces, mentorship, and training opportunities. Addressing these challenges requires peer-led development programs, leadership certification, and stronger engagement with local councils to ensure that Black leaders can shape the policies and funding mechanisms that affect their communities.
Advocacy and Influencing: Shifting Power in Policy and Funding Decisions
For meaningful systemic change to take place, Black-led organisations must have direct influence over funding and policy decisions—not just be consulted as service providers. Research highlights the need for trust-building with funders, participatory grant-making, and long-term partnerships that give Black-led organisations the resources and authority to drive change at local and national levels.
Community Wealth: Building Sustainable Financial Futures
Financial security is essential for Black-led organisations to move beyond survival mode and scale their impact. Yet, short-term funding cycles and exclusion from capital opportunities continue to leave many organisations vulnerable. Research calls for multi-year core funding, revenue diversification, and sustainable business models to establish lasting financial independence.
