DP World in the UK is entering into agreements with its new occupants at London Gateway Logistics Park – part of the Thames Freeport tax zone – to fund a joint levy that will be distributed to promote local community projects, social infrastructure and skills training in the area. The sum raised is expected to amount to £15 million over five years.

The community consultation has now finished. This looked to understand the key local social, economic, and environmental issues our communities need support with. We are now reviewing the findings to identify our priority areas and to develop a framework for support. We expect applications for funding for new projects to open towards the end of 2024. We will then identify suitable projects which align with the identified needs of our local communities.

As DP World in the UK, we have supported local causes such as Little Haven’s Hospice, Meningitis Now, the South Essex Wildlife Hospital and STEM teaching for South Essex schoolchildren, amongst many others over the last ten years. We run an award-winning apprenticeship scheme and have a very active volunteering calendar, with over 25 days of organised events in work time in 2023. We have a partnership with Fish Local to support the local fishing community to enable the establishment of a long term sustainable local herring fishery. Through a partnership with STEM Learning we are providing funding to local schools to inspire teachers about how these subjects apply in the world of work. This includes training and summer camps.

With 22,000 people currently unemployed in the outer Thames Freeport boundary, we are also hoping to help to meet the increasing requirements for higher skills in advanced manufacturing, digitalisation, and artificial intelligence, and address the operational shortages in core roles such as logistics, haulage, and warehousing, through targeted retraining and upskilling.

We are excited that the levy fund will allow us to significantly increase our level of community investment, whilst also assisting to resolve longstanding skills challenges within the local workforce. We shall be looking to partner with organisations on projects which will allow us to continue to make a real difference to local people’s lives. Our intention is for the joint levy investment to be a catalyst for the regeneration of those local areas which are recognised as some of the most deprived areas in the UK.

DP World only partners with organisations that:

• Do not have policies or practices that negatively discriminate on grounds of race, creed, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or age.
• Do not discriminate unfairly in the allocation of their support according to race, creed, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or age.
• Do not have the dissemination of religious or political information as their main agenda and do not otherwise use their charitable work to encourage support for political or sectarian causes.
• Are not involved in, or are under investigation for the abuse of human rights, childrens rights, and modern slavery.
• Are not implicated in allegations of bribery and corruption.
• Are not directly involved in gambling, recreational, or illegal drugs, tobacco, armaments, or alcohol (except for those charities and organisations specifically dedicated to tackling addiction or drug abuse).
• Do not cause harm to animals for the purposes of either sport or entertainment.
• Are not involved in activities which cause damage to the environment.
• Fully disclose all relevant corporate and personal conflicts of interest.
• Do not have values or policies which conflict with the values of DP World.
• Does not have content that impacts negatively on our brand values.

Individuals supporting a community project which they would like to put forward for consideration for the fund should email [email protected] and your details will be added to a database so we can contact you when applications open. We expect to receive a high volume of interest and appreciate your patience. Please note, application does not guarantee selection.

This webpage will be updated when applications open with the details of how to apply.