Every year, Black History Month offers us a chance to celebrate legacy, honour resilience, and perhaps most importantly speak truth to power. This year’s theme, Standing Firm in Power and Pride, is more than a slogan. It’s a reminder that real power doesn’t just sit in institutions or boardrooms. Real power lives in our communities in the hands of everyday people who build, dream, and resist. 

For too long, the story of money in Black communities has been one of exclusion.

Exclusion from the wealth that’s been created on our backs. Exclusion from the financial systems that should have helped us thrive. Exclusion from the board tables where decisions about our economic futures are made. 

Across London and beyond, Black communities have always found ingenious ways to support each other financially long before we called it “community wealth building.” Think of the aunties and uncles running ROSCAs (Rotating Savings and Credit Associations) at kitchen tables, or the local credit unions and cooperative ventures that helped keep businesses and families afloat. These weren’t charity handouts. They were self-determined systems of care and power, rooted in trust, shared values, and community. 

Top-down doesn’t work when the problem is systemic 

Traditional finance likes to work in straight lines: big banks, big loans, top-down solutions. But systemic inequality doesn’t follow neat lines. It’s baked into how credit scores are calculated, how wealth is inherited, how institutions make decisions about who’s “a good risk.” 

That’s why community-led financial models matter. They meet people where they are. They create systems that make sense for the community, not just for the spreadsheet. And they do something even more powerful they build collective agency. 

Challenging systems that weren’t built for us 

Financial exclusion isn’t just about being locked out of banks. It’s also about how the system defines value, risk, and who gets a seat at the table. It’s about racial pay gaps that persist no matter how hard people work. It’s about the way debt and poverty are structured into everyday life. 

That’s why through the Trust for London Racial and Economic Justice Fund, we have focused on supporting organisations who are challenging these deep-rooted systems, not just managing the symptoms. 

Because of the many barriers to accessing traditional financial services, many Black and minoritised communities turn to community-based financial systems instead. 

One of the most common examples is ROSCAs. These have existed for centuries and remain a trusted way for communities around the world to build collective financial resilience. Here’s how it works: a group of people contribute a set amount to a shared pot for example, once a month and each member takes turns receiving the full lump sum. Over time, everyone gets access to savings without needing to go through a bank or formal credit system. 

ROSCAs are built on trust, shared responsibility, and a sense of mutual care. They’re practical, familiar, and accessible in ways that mainstream financial products often aren’t. But they also have limitations. They can be time-consuming, rely on in-person meetings, and operate completely outside of formal financial structures which means they don’t build credit histories or connect easily with other financial services. 

This is where the work of Communomics becomes critical. We are funding them to explore how these trusted, community-rooted systems can be better recognised, supported, and linked to wider financial inclusion strategies. 

Communomics is using research and evidence to shape the government’s approach to financial inclusion. They are pushing for regulatory frameworks that acknowledge the value of ROSCAs and similar community finance models making sure these aren’t sidelined but supported as legitimate financial tools. Their work isn’t about replacing community systems with top-down solutions. It’s about creating bridges between informal systems and mainstream finance, so that people can access the benefits of both. 

This approach is part of a bigger vision: building financial systems that work for the communities currently excluded from them, rather than expecting communities to adapt to systems that have failed them for generations.  

Or look at the work of Rooted Finance and Money A+E, who are building pathways to financial inclusion that start with lived experience. Their approach recognises that financial exclusion isn’t about individual failure it’s about structural barriers. Through their work, they’re creating space for communities to influence how financial systems work, from the ground up. 

And then there’s Black Co-op CIC, who are exploring models of cooperative ownership and community wealth-building that push beyond traditional charity or service delivery. Their work is slower, harder, and more complex than many people might imagine but that’s exactly why it matters. They are tackling questions about how assets, power, and decision-making can stay within communities for the long haul. 

The work is hard and that’s the point 

None of this is easy work. These organisations are operating in systems that weren’t built with their communities in mind. Progress isn’t a straight line. It’s slow, often frustrating, and requires deep trust and collaboration. But it’s also where real change happens. 

At Trust for London we recognise we have a role to play here not to lead, but to back the people who are already leading. That means being patient. It means funding work that might not fit into neat boxes. And it means recognising that shifting power is uncomfortable, but necessary. 

Building from the ground up 

Community-led financial solutions don’t just provide access to money, they give people a stake in shaping their own futures. They make space for new economic models rooted in trust, culture, and shared accountability. 

And crucially, they show policymakers and institutions what’s possible when communities lead. 

As we mark Black History Month, let’s remember: standing firm in power isn’t just about pride in where we have come from. It’s also about the quiet, determined work of building something better. 

Real financial power doesn’t trickle down from the top. It’s built, piece by piece, on the ground by the communities who refuse to give up. 

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Author Bio: Ugo Ikokwu is the Programme Lead for the Racial and Economic Justice Fund at Trust for London. He is also Treasurer and Trustee at London Funders and a Trustee and Grants Committee Member at Barratt Redrow Foundation. 

He is also the chair of the Alpha Grove Centre a small community based organisation based on the Isle of Dogs. Ugo works at the intersection of social justice and social investment, focusing on shifting power and resources into the hands of communities most affected by inequality. His work champions Black-led and community-based organisations, with a particular interest in financial inclusion, community wealth building, housing, and ownership of community assets. 

He is passionate about building systems that enable long-term, community-led change.