Grants database

Refugee Action protects refugees’ right to live in safety and dignity through the provision of advice, practical support and advocacy. This grant provides follow-on funding to support the dissemination of Refugee Action’s national legal advice mapping report which provides research into the provision of, and demand for, legal immigration advice.

Black South West Network (BSWN) works to build strong Black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities, businesses and organisations that are empowered to flourish while challenging systemic barriers in order to address racial inequality. This grant supports evaluation of their model for racial justice work, giving BSWN the space to reflect, refine the framework and evaluate their impact.

Asylos is a charity that works to deliver the just protection of law to vulnerable people fleeing persecution. This grant will support Asylos to work with an experienced consultant to address questions around the organisational definition of ​“lived experience”, monitor the state of lived experience representation, the rationale for furthering lived experience engagement, accountability, mechanisms for increased representation and support to people with lived experience within Asylos.

Reach Volunteering is the leading skills-based volunteering charity and the UK’s single biggest source of trustees for the voluntary sector. This grant will support Reach to work with grassroots and micro organisations, design and implement equality, diversity and inclusion monitoring for organisations which use the service and evaluate impact and explore emerging needs. It will also support trialling culture change work, based on centring volunteers’ intrinsic values and developing narratives which foreground values like solidarity, care, agency and purpose.

Alleyne & is a team of associates brought together and headed up by Suzanne Alleyne who support organisations and people to create more equitable spaces. This grant will support the recruitment of a Project Manager to deliver funded sector work and provide an innovative approach to organisational development. This includes access support for critical talks on power and delivery of online distribution, developing the workshop ​‘Sustainable Brilliance’ and supporting the Alleyne & brand to increase profile and impact.

Outburst Arts is dedicated to exploring and celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender stories and experiences through the arts in Northern Ireland. This grant provides core support to aid the organisation in dealing with the challenges posed by Covid-19.

Tenebrae is a vocal ensemble that performs internationally and delivers a growing education and outreach programme. Building on pilot work with a primary school partner in the borough of Ealing, this grant supports Tenebrae to develop a singing programme in four local primary schools, engaging with each school for three years. This initiative aims to build a sustainable culture of singing to support learning in music and across other curriculum areas.

The Polka Children’s Theatre presents visiting shows for 0–12-year-olds alongside creative learning programmes, providing participation opportunities for schools and the community. This grant supports their Write Here Write Now project for Year 3 children in the London Borough of Merton, whose teachers identify that they are not reaching their full potential in literacy and may have low confidence. Drama practitioners from Polka Children’s Theatre work alongside teachers to establish the needs of each group, and deliver bespoke programmes using drama and play-based learning to support creative writing and confidence-building.

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival (LICAF) celebrates the wide diversity of comics through an annual event and runs a year-round programme addressing social issues through the unique properties of comics. This grant supports LICAF to work with a small group of primary schools and specialist SEND settings in Barrow-in-Furness and North Yorkshire to explore how comics can positively affect children’s enjoyment of and motivation to read, and support their wider literacy development. The project will also work with teachers to support them to integrate comics into teaching and learning across curriculum areas.

HMDT Music support schools in London, Luton, Lancashire and Stoke-on-Trent to embed arts-based practice into the curriculum, with a focus on improving diversity, equity and inclusion. This grant supports HMDT Music to develop teacher continuing professional development, teaching resources and training and mentoring for new arts educators.

QUAD is an international centre for engagement in contemporary art and film based in Derby. Following a successful pilot of the School in Residence programme from 2018–2020, this grant supports QUAD to develop and expand their school partnerships. The organisation matches their team of artist-practitioners to the needs of individual schools, delivering creative workshops in filmmaking, photography, digital art, dance, spoken word, sculpture and painting.

Based in Northern Ireland, Bruiser Theatre Company is a physical theatre company that nurtures new professionals and reaches out to communities. This project will explore and test a blended approach to supporting drama education in Northern Irish secondary schools. This grant supports Bruiser Theatre Company to deliver a consistent free provision of workshops, teacher continuing professional development and mentorship to embed skills throughout the programme.