Get in touch
Get in touch

Our community

Rooted in our community

Grow with Ginkgo is how we take part in local life in Blackheath and across south east London. We run educational events and talks on money matters, support local causes, look after our patch and welcome young people into the office.

We’ve been here since 2012. Our clients are our neighbours, and we’d like to be good ones.

Pouring coffee at the Grow with Ginkgo Macmillan coffee morning

Open Gardens Festival – our headline sponsorship

Every June, local gardens open their gates to raise money for Greenwich & Bexley Community Hospice. We’re now the festival’s headline sponsor.

We first took part in 2026. We were the first business ever to join in, with a plant sale and bake sale by the flower borders outside our office.

The hospice cares for local people at the end of their lives, and supports their families. Sponsoring the festival lets us help in a bigger way. And we’ve loved getting to know the garden hosts and visitors who make it all happen.

Find out about the festival
An Open Gardens Festival poster by the planted border outside the Ginkgo Financial office

Running for MumsAid

MumsAid helps mums with their mental health, from pregnancy to two years.

We met the MumsAid team on a sponsored walk with More2 Nurseries. That led to us sponsoring MumsAid’s running vests. MumsAid runners now race in vests carrying our name, and several of our team will be running for MumsAid too. Daren is running the London Marathon for MumsAid in April 2027.

Three Ginkgo Financial runners holding their medals after a Greenwich race, one wearing the MumsAid vest with the Ginkgo Financial logo

Sharing what we know

We run our own educational events on money matters, open to everyone. We also give talks to local groups. We’ve spoken to:

  • Lewisham Carers Week – carers
  • Big Red Bus Club – parents and carers of children with special educational needs
  • Rectory Court and Leah Lodge – residents and families at drop-ins
  • Glory Days – over-55s at their coffee mornings in Lewisham
  • More2 Nurseries – parents
A Ginkgo Financial adviser talking with a guest at a Grow with Ginkgo event, with leaflets and a tin of sweets on the table

We give a handful of talks each year. Our advisers’ time is limited, so we can’t say yes to everyone – but do tell us about your group.

These are educational sessions – general information, not personal recommendations.

Looking after our patch

Our office used to be surrounded by grey concrete. Now there’s a planted border, a bin store with flowers and a green roof, and a green wall. The planting draws in wildlife, soaks up pollution and helps with surface water. We keep it clean and tidy, and if you’re passing, come and say hello.

Debra Blundell, co-founder of Ginkgo Financial, with a mug of tea by the summer flower border outside the office

Opening doors for young people

Once or twice a year, we take local students on work experience. They spend a week with the team and see what a career in financial advice looks like. We’ve hosted students from Leigh Academy Blackheath, Beths Grammar School and London South East Colleges. We’ve also been to the careers fair at St Olave’s Grammar School in Orpington, Bromley.

Two work experience students presenting to the Ginkgo Financial team, with a thank you slide on the boardroom screen

Who we work with

Greenwich & Bexley Community Hospice

Care for local people at the end of their lives, and their families. We’re headline sponsor of their Open Gardens Festival.

MumsAid

Mental health support for mums, from pregnancy to two years. We sponsor their running vests and take part in their runs.

More2 Nurseries

Local nurseries in Greenwich and Kidbrooke. We’ve given talks on money matters to parents, and supported their sponsored walk.

ABC Book Club

A Lewisham-based charity that builds and stocks school libraries across south east London and Kent. We run book drives and sponsor locally written books that teach children about money.

Blackheath Halls

Blackheath’s concert hall and arts centre. We’re one of the sponsors of their Opera Gala, which helps fund community opera and music education.

Reach Out Project

A charity supporting isolated and vulnerable local people. We support their events and donate when someone they refer becomes a client.

What we’ve been up to

All #growwithginkgo posts

Photo stories and round-ups from our community work.

  • A 1970s family photo of a mother with her two young daughters

    All advice is well meant. Not all advice is equal.

    A health visitor, a threatened dressing gown and no real help. Debra on her mum, MumsAid and why meaning well isn’t the same as being professional.

    Read article

  • Two women talking over a notebook at a café table, with a Local Treasure badge

    Local Treasures Deborah Fitzpatrick – The Reach Out Project, Mycenae House

    Kelly meets Deborah Fitzpatrick, who runs the Reach Out Project at Mycenae House – on volunteers, Thursday afternoons, and the man everyone cheers for.

    Read article

  • A group of parents and children setting off on a walk along a cobbled Greenwich street

    How a wet Thursday in Greenwich turned into a year of running.

    120 nursery children, rain, and a conversation on the Thames Path. Debra on how Ginkgo became a charity partner of MumsAid – and what happens next

    Read article

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