Community Links is a multipurpose charity operating in the

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

borough of

Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the s ...

. It was established by

David Robinson David Maurice Robinson (born August 6, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1989 to 2003, and minority owner of the Spurs. Nicknamed ...

OBE and Kevin Jenkins OBE in 1977, and has grown to become one of the UK's largest local charities. In 2011 Community Links was selected as one of the charities supported by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

s Christmas appeal. Guardian Editor

Alan Rusbridger Alan Charles Rusbridger (born 29 December 1953) is a British journalist, who was formerly editor-in-chief of ''The Guardian'' and then principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Rusbridger became editor-in-chief of ''The Guardian'' in 1995, hav ...

said, "The legendary Community Links charity wrote the book on how to regenerate deprived neighbourhoods and engage with young people." The organisation has led and developed several innovative projects. Community Links’ advice sessions on unsafe

tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently ...

estates in the 1980s inspired the Newham Tower Block Tenants Campaign, and led to demolition of the

Ronan Point Ronan Point was a 22-storey tower block in Canning Town in Newham, East London, that partly collapsed on 16 May 1968, only two months after it had opened. A gas explosion blew out some load-bearing walls, causing the collapse of one entire corn ...

Tower Block 1986 and establishment of The National Tower Block Campaign. Former Prime Minister

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

co-wrote a book with Community Links in 2007. In '' Britain's Everyday Heroes'', Brown referred to Community Links as "the innovative charity at the forefront of community regeneration". In 2007

Social Finance Social finance is a category of financial services which aims to leverage private capital to address challenges in areas of social and environmental need. Having gained popularity in the aftermath of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, it is notable f ...

, along with government, Community Links and

St Giles Trust St Giles Trust is a charity that works with people facing disadvantages such as homelessness, long-term unemployment, an offending background, addiction, severe poverty and involvement in gangs. History The organisation was established in 1962 ...

launched the UK’s first

social impact bond A social impact bond, also known as pay-for-success financing, pay-for-success bond, social benefit bond or simply a social bond, is one form of outcomes-based contracting. Although there is no single agreed definition of social impact bonds, mo ...

, a financial instrument designed to raise capital from outside the public sector to pilot new projects tackling social issues. The idea was conceived at Community Links through the Council on Social Action which was convened and chaired by Community Links founder David Robinson. He is chair of Peterborough Prison’s One programme – the first project in the UK to be funded by a Social Impact Bond, and a member of the Big Society Trust, the holding company for

Big Society Capital Big Society Capital Limited (BSC) is an independent social investment institution in the United Kingdom, which provides finance to organizations that support front-line social sector entities to help them grow. Synopsis Social investment is about ...

. Community Links convened and hosts the Early Action Taskforce, which was launched in January 2011. Its members include Sir Stuart Etherington, CEO of the

National Council for Voluntary Organisations The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) is the umbrella body for the voluntary and community sector in England. It is a registered charity (no 225922). NCVO works to support the voluntary and community sector and to create an ...

, and Dame

Clare Tickell Dame Oriana Clare Tickell, DBE (born 25 May 1958) is an Independent Director of the John Lewis Partnership. Career Clare Tickell joined the John Lewis Partnership as an Independent Director in October 2019. The John Lewis Partnership, which inc ...

, CEO of

Action for Children Action for Children (formerly National Children's Home) is a United Kingdom, UK children's charity created to help vulnerable children & young people and their families in the UK. The charity has 7,000 staff and volunteers who operate over 475 ...

. The Early Action Taskforce aims to answer the question "how do we build a society that prevents problems from occurring rather than one that, as now, copes with the consequences?" The Taskforce’s first report, ''The Triple Dividend: Thriving Lives, Costing Less, Contributing More'' was launched in September 2011.Will Horwitz
The rhetoric and reality of early action on social problems
Touchstone (

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

blog), 23 November 2011.

References

External links

* {{official, http://www.community-links.org Organisations based in the London Borough of Newham Charities based in London Organizations established in 1977