Empowering Singapore’s groundup movement: NVPC, Temasek Foundation and Tote Board launch ‘BAGUS Together’ initiative, a first-stop resource platform

18 January 2024 - To encourage stronger resident participation and contribution towards strengthening the nation’s social compact, the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC), Temasek Foundation and Tote Board launched the “BAGUS (Building All Groundups for Success) Together” initiative, a multi-sectoral partnership with a first-stop platform and key programmes, to enable and empower Singapore’s groundup movement.

In addition, NVPC and Tote Board also unveiled key findings of the first-ever national-level study on the groundup landscape, the Groundup Initiative Study (GUIS) 2023. The GUIS, saw an increase in groundups started during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost three times more than in the previous year.

Together with the study, NVPC also released the ‘Leading from the ground up’ digital handbook, a practical guide for aspiring changemakers complementing BAGUS Together.

The findings from GUIS 2023 served to catalyse the development of BAGUS Together and the digital handbook. These aim to enable and empower potential changemakers and existing groundups with know-how to carry out their initiatives and support the Forward Singapore effort to foster an active citizenry in building a shared future together.

Temasek Foundation and Tote Board are co-funders of BAGUS Together. S$5 million will be committed over five years from the co-funders to collaboratively build the capability of the groundup movement in Singapore and strengthen our civic culture of compassion and care.

Mr Tan Choon Shian, Chief Executive, Tote Board, said, “During the pandemic, we witnessed the groundswell of informal giving and community mobilisation. We saw that small, collective actions by individuals can make big impact in the community. BAGUS Together and the various groundup empowerment initiatives reflect our collective commitment to building a community of good. In various ways, we want to enable the average man and woman on the street to shape our Singapore story of care and resilience.”

Please refer to the press release at the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre website for more information.