About us
Who we are
A bit about Link UP London
Link UP London aims to cultivate social change by harnessing professional skills for good.
We began in 2016 in Battersea to test a model of skilled volunteering that connects people with professional skills with charitable organisations on short-term, structured volunteer projects to help these organisations develop and grow. Our projects have flexible time commitments and are designed to fit into busy schedules. We expanded throughout Wandsworth and Lambeth before moving fully online in 2020 with the pandemic.
Our Skilled Volunteering offers tailored support to Social Good Organisations (SGOs – community groups, registered charities and social enterprises) allowing them to access the skills they need to build their internal capacity. The SGOs we support tend to be small, embedded within their communities and are at the forefront of community service, particularly in tackling the effects of Covid-19.
Poverty and income diversity continues to grow faster in London than in other regions of the UK and the effects of Covid-19 has exacerbated this trend. Through our work, we know many SGOs have faced a huge spike in demand for their services as need has grown; communities are up against increasing unemployment and homelessness, rising mental health issues, a surge in domestic abuse and a growing digital divide, to name just a few of the challenges.
These organisations thrive when given access to specialised professionals who share expertise they do not have in-house in areas such as human resources, legal, marketing, IT, social media, strategy, and much more. This support gives the organisations capacity they need to develop internally while, at the same time, allowing them more time to dedicate to service delivery. It simultaneously provides volunteers with a closer connection to their community and a greater sense of purpose.