Grants are available for frontline organisations, grassroots groups and community groups across the UK that are working to redress the impact of the coronavirus/COVID-19 and systemic racism on communities of colour.
Funding body: Resourcing Racial Justice Fund
Maximum value: £ 50,000
Application deadline: 15/06/2020
Background
The Resourcing Racial Justice Fund is a new Fund that was launched in May 2020 by a coalition of people of colour (POC) innovators, change makers, activists, artists, and social leaders dedicated to social change.
Objectives of Fund
The funding is intended for community-based organisations that are working towards racial justice, especially in light of COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on people of colour that has brought attention to structural racism in the UK.
Value Notes
Two levels of funding are available for organisations:
- Emergency Recovery: grants of between £5,000 and £30,000.
- Long-Term Structural Change: grants of between £30,000 and £50,000.
- The Fund also offers grants of between £5,000 and £30,000 for eligible individuals.
During the first funding round a total of £500,000 will be awarded in grants.
Who Can Apply
The Fund is open to applications from individuals, groups and organisations (of any size), working anywhere in the UK to take forward racial justice.
Organisations can be either incorporated, unincorporated and/or unconstituted, including community and grassroots groups/networks/projects.
Location
United Kingdom
Eligible Expenditure
The Fund aims to support:
- Historic and newly formed people of colour led organisations who are at risk of closure because of COVID-19 and the impending recession.
- Community organisations, businesses and enterprises that are built on the social relationships, intergenerational knowledge and lived experience of people of colour in their work and infrastructure.
Community groups and community-led organisations that are led by people of colour or whose efforts are working towards racial justice and equity to continue their work. - Organisations, networks, and community groups that offer vital services and spaces of refuge to communities of colour; especially those who experience multiple forms of marginalisation. These include migrant rights groups, support in detention centres, LGBTQI groups, faith groups, advocates and those responding on issues affecting people of colour disproportionately (eg, detentions, policing, gentrification, physical and mental health).
The Fund understands that the work it seeks to support can take a variety of forms and structures and therefore, the Fund is open and flexible about where the money can be spent, as it should be reflective of the needs of the relevant community. However, eligible projects should meet the following criteria:
- Projects that address the immediate needs and/or impact of crisis – be it COVID-19 or otherwise – for communities of colour.
- Ideas that present transformational and radical alternatives that will support people of colour creating solutions for change on a systemic level.
- Supporting “ecosystem builders”: visionaries that exist between the mainstream and the margins, who are working to mobilise connections and resources for the benefit of their communities. This could include: Lived Experience Leaders; POC leaders; activists; community leaders; innovators; changemakers working on racial justice.
- Projects with an international perspective, seeking to amplify and build relationships with communities in the global south in order to achieve global change.
- Projects connected to faith and spirituality.
- Three types of funding are available:
Emergency and Recovery Funding: Grants for organisations looking for smaller investments or for emergency funding, needed to sustain themselves and meet the needs of people of colour within the coronavirus/COVID-19 crisis.
Long Term Structural Change Funding: Grants for organisations and ideas that present transformational and radical alternatives that will support people of colour, creating solutions for change on a systemic level. This can include emergency funding required to sustain organisations who are working to make long-term structural change for communities of colour.
Funding for Individuals: Grants for individuals who identify as change-makers, activists, innovators, social leaders, ecosystem builders and artists who are carrying out their work outside of existing organisational structures.
How To Apply
The first funding round is open for applications until 15 June 2020.
Application guidelines are available on the website of the Resourcing Racial Justice Fund. Organisations should submit their application via email as a word document or in form of a video clip.
Useful Links
Resourcing Racial Justice Fund