IDCF looks to broaden influence

This has raised concerns that money tagged for the Island will be diverted elsewhere. But chairman Howard Dawber has assured The Wharf that the current funds will remain here.

He said: "It broadens our horizons without watering down our commitment. It doesn't mean that it's now a free-for-all. You can't just abstract the money and spend it on a random thing elsewhere."

The IDCF was set up when the London Docklands Development Corporation left in 1990. It was entrusted with a multi-million pound endowment, which generates interest that can be passed on to local organisations. It is also often called on by the council to hand out Section 106 money from major developments. But its old constitution only allowed it to operate in the Millwall and Blackwall and Cubitt Town wards.

Mr Dawber - a Canary Wharf Group strategic adviser who became IDCF chairman a year ago - says the group is already establishing links in Limehouse and East India and Lansbury wards.

He said: "The existing endowment can only be spent in the Isle of Dogs. But in future money in addition to that endowment may be spent on projects available outside the Island.

"The reason for that is that sometimes, if we were to fund a training project in relation to Riverside South, it would be churlish to say that someone from the Teviot estate couldn't apply for it whereas someone from the Barkantine could."

The group is distributing money from Riverside South, the Millennium Quarter, Heron Quays West and North Quay. In exchange for an admin fee from the council, the IDCF liaises with small organisations in handing out the money, helping to fill out forms and aiding these groups in tracking down other funding.

Mr Dawber said: "We've demonstrated over the years that we are a very effective manager and monitor of Section 106 money. We have a dedicated team of staff that work very hard. We're not a big bureaucracy.

"There aren't many foundations like this in London. If you go to some other parts of London, you see that the level of voluntary sector activity is much lower because they don't have the support.

"This change is about increasing its capability while maintaining its original focus."