Minister Peacock delivered a speech at the Giving and Impact
Summit held at the London Stock Exchange.
"Good morning everyone. Thank you for that kind
introduction. It is great to be here with you this morning
at the Giving and Impact summit. Thank you to Integra for
organising this forum, to the London Stock Exchange for hosting
us, and to everyone here today. Your presence here demonstrates
your shared interest and belief in the power of philanthropy and
impact investment to achieve social good. This Government shares
this passion and recognises the vital role the Impact Economy can
play in helping to drive stronger economic growth across the
country, alongside our ambitious Plan for Change. I intend
to set out briefly today how we can work in partnership to
achieve this.
A remarkable 15 billion pounds was donated to charities last
year; of course we can go further. I have seen this first
hand in my own constituency of Barnsley South, quite a deprived
area. Whether that be Barnsley Hospice that raises £3.6 million
per year and relies on donations to care for people and their
families at the most difficult time of their lives or Barnsley
Youth Choir which receives donations of over £300,000 annually,
they focus on advancing musical education for young people in
Barnsley and surrounding areas, and in their short existence have
become one of the world's leading youth choirs.
Charitable giving and philanthropic investment builds on the
British spirit of generosity that was outlined in the intro.
Extending to our impact investment market, which has grown
significantly over the past decade and leads the way in Europe.
This growing market is worth over 76 billion pounds, demonstrates
people's strong desire for a connection between their investments
and tangible social impact. Now as the Minister responsible
for philanthropy and the Impact Economy, I have seen first-hand
the remarkable work being done in this area and the vast
potential for increasing funds invested in public good. It was a
real pleasure and a real eye opener to visit Made-in-Stoke last
year for Giving Tuesday, an initiative focused on building a
community of individuals eager to give back to Stoke.
That brings me onto government, and the important role we play in
creating an ecosystem that stimulates increased investment and
delivers for communities up and down the country. The most
pressing social and environmental challenges facing the nation
require us to work together, with different forms of capital, to
achieve lasting change. We want to work more closely with all of
you here today, to tackle these challenges and boost
inclusive growth. That is why we established the Social
Impact Investment Advisory Group earlier this year. Both myself
and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury were really pleased to
attend its first meeting. This group of experts brings together
individuals from across the impact investment, philanthropy and
civil society sectors, and will provide recommendations later
this year on how the government can effectively mobilise more
social impact capital. The group has also been advising on the
Social Impact Investment Vehicle announced at the Autumn Budget,
to support delivery of the Government's top priorities and to
tackle those complex social problems. The advisory group is the
first step in our commitment to establishing a stronger, and more
ambitious, partnership with Impact Economy. We will continue to
build on this, as our recently published Industrial Strategy
demonstrates. This sets out our clear intention to deepen
collaboration with the Impact Economy to deliver inclusive and
sustainable growth, and in particular partner with the
philanthropy sector.
I have heard from many of you that more can be done to grow
philanthropic investment in this country. That is why, earlier
this year, I outlined my three priorities to support this:
Firstly, the Government wants to connect philanthropic investment
with the places that need it most - through place-based
philanthropy. The Secretary of State has committed to the
development of a place-based philanthropy strategy. This will set
out a vision for how we can harness philanthropy to drive
economic growth and regenerate our communities.
Second, we want to unlock extra philanthropic investment by
making it as easy as possible for philanthropists to give more,
and for would-be philanthropists to give for the first time.
And finally, we want to partner with civil society, communities,
donors and businesses to celebrate a culture of giving.
Let me end today by saying that this Government acknowledges the
immense contribution social investors, philanthropists, and
businesses make, and we want to see this go further. Thank
you all once again for inviting me to join you today, and I hope
the rest of the summit is a success."
