Commitment to fair pay and open data

We have taken two important steps in our role as a responsible funder: we are now a Living Wage Funder and are publishing data about our grants in an open and accessible way.

We have been a Living Wage Employer since 2016 and we are now officially a Living Wage Funder. The accreditation is awarded by the Living Wage Foundation and commits us to helping the organisations we fund to pay the voluntary real Living Wage, which is currently £10.85¹ per hour for London. As part of our accredited status, we also pledge to encourage our funded partners to become Living Wage Employers themselves.

In addition, in our commitment to acting with transparency we have joined other grant-makers in publishing data about our grants following the 360Giving format. The well-recognised industry standard asks funders to publish their data in an open and consistent way for easier comparison. This is to help everyone understand and use grant data better, and to support more informed decision-making in the charitable sector.

Through adopting this standard, we are making available information about grants we have awarded – including names of recipient organisations, amounts given and dates of the awards – so that it can be used in open data tools, including the search platform GrantNav.

Across the UK, one in four working people earns below the level of the Living Wage. Through our work, we see very clearly the links between income and health. We’re delighted to be able to pay our own staff a fair wage, and support those we fund to do likewise.

¹ Article updated 10 February 2021 to reflect higher London real living wage