The governor of the Bank of England has urged finance chiefs to help tackle poverty on their doorsteps.

East London Advertiser: The governor gathered representatives from across the City and Canary Wharf to discuss their responsibilities to support the area. Picture: EECFThe governor gathered representatives from across the City and Canary Wharf to discuss their responsibilities to support the area. Picture: EECF (Image: Archant)

Mark Carney teamed up with Isle of Dogs based charity The East End Community Foundation (EECF) in a bid to help the less well off in Tower Hamlets.

Mr Carney and the EECF met leaders of finance to talk about the issues affecting people in need.

The meeting came after the central banker called up City and Canary Wharf business chiefs to discuss their responsibility to support communities and the EECF after witnessing poverty firsthand on a visit to east London last year.

The outgoing central bank governor heard how people struggle to access opportunities provided by the big financial companies that share their neighbourhood.

He also saw for himself how motivated east Londoners are and the positive impact community leaders make.

Mr Carney said: "Corporate social responsibility programmes provide invaluable support to vulnerable people across the nation.

"The leading companies in the City are also fully engaged in their communities and the responsibility we have to our immediate localities."

Howard Dawber, EECF chairman and managing director for strategy at Canary Wharf Group, said: "Today's roundtable discussion is significant in that for the first time, all of the leading financial organisations in the City and Canary Wharf have come together to tackle poverty in the East End by discussing how firms and the Bank of England, can more usefully engage with the community."

The EECF works to reduce poverty in some of the poorest boroughs in the UK. It reports supporting nearly 20,000 people and helping more than 1,000 get jobs.

It also awards grants to community projects and has invested more than £1,000,000 in grassroots activities.

East London boroughs have some of the worst deprivation levels in the UK. Tower Hamlets and Newham have the second and third highest rates of child poverty in the UK.

It is for these reasons EECF is appealing to financial organisations in and around these boroughs to support the foundation and its grant programmes.

The discussion with senior leaders was another way it is battling poverty.