City spurns Jubilee charity appeal

THE Square Mile has a long and proud history of charitable giving. So how better to mark Jubilee year than by raising £50m to help, among others, the City's poorer neighbours in the East End?

But tumbling stock markets and job losses in financial services seem to have chilled the City's charitable instincts. Contributions to its flagship Golden Jubilee charity, Boost, are running way below target, with just £5m pledged.

The scheme to raise money to help the long-term unemployed planned to bring in £50m by the time its sale of special no-interest bonds closes in mid-August. 'Ideally, we would be ahead of that by now,' said Boost chief executive Henrietta Royle. 'But it is a difficult time. People are saying 'if only you had come to me last year '.'

Under the Boost scheme, individuals and firms buy bonds worth anything from £100 upwards. The bonds mature after five years, returning investors' original stake, but no interest.

Boost lends about 75% of the money raised to a housing association, Places for People, which pays commercial interest on the loan, totalling 25% over five years. This makes up the original stake to be returned to investors. Boost gives the remaining 25% of the original money raised to organisations that help the long-term unemployed and support local entrepreneurs. Over five years, Boost hopes to find jobs for more than 8,000 people and help create 1,000 businesses.

Boost was launched at Chancellor Gordon Brown's Downing Street residence in December and has been supported by the City's Lord Mayor and the three east London boroughs that will benefit: Newham, Hackney and Tower Hamlets.