Lloyds Bank Foundation opens Racial Equity funding for charities
Melanie May | 20 April 2021 | News
Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales launches its Racial Equity funding for small and local charities led by and supporting Black, Asian, and ethnic minority communities today, 20 April.
Charities can apply for two-year unrestricted grants of £50,000 alongside development support.
The Racial Equity funding will be open year-round, enabling charities to apply when it suits them. The Foundation is looking to support charities where more than half of their Trustee Board self-identify as Black, Asian or minority ethnic, with an annual income of between £25,000 and £1m, and with a strong track record of helping people from minority communities across 11 complex social issues. These include addiction and dependency, asylum seekers and refugees, and care leavers.
Advertisement
Over the last year, the pandemic has shone a light on deep-rooted and systemic inequalities in the UK, with minoritised communities disproportionately affected by the crisis. These inequalities are present across the complex social issues the Foundation funds such as homelessness, domestic abuse, mental ill health and the criminal justice system, with Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities less well served by mainstream provision, and disproportionately affected.
Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales is committing at least a quarter of its £9.5m grants budget in 2021 for small charities led by and for Black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities. This follows on from the same commitment made last year by the Foundation, which awarded 38% of its COVID Recovery Fund Grants in 2020 to small charities led by members of minoritised communities. In realising that tackling structural racism and funding inequalities is an ongoing, iterative process, it will continue to apply and revise its application processes to ensure that it can continue to meet the 25% funding target.
One such charity that the Foundation awarded a £50,000 grant to in December is The Angelou Centre in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, which empowers Black and minoritised women and children to rebuild their lives free from violence and abuse. In the past year alone, they have supported more than 850 people through their advocacy work.
“Through the pandemic our referrals across services have continued to increase by 50% and referrals into our refuges increased sixfold as mainstream public and voluntary agencies failed to accommodate destitute migrant women. Core funding from the Foundation has enabled us to continue our support to the most deprived and disadvantaged survivors of violence and abused women with no recourse to public funds.”
Paul Streets, Chief Executive of Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales, said:
“The charities we partner with see first-hand how structural and institutional racism continues to affect lives. These inequalities are present across the complex social issues we fund yet charities led by minoritised communities face greater barriers to securing much-needed funding.
“Small charities led by those who serve these communities have been vital in reaching those who have been less well served by mainstream provision, especially during the pandemic. We remain committed in our role as a funder in tackling the funding inequalities facing Black, Asian, and minority ethnic-led charities, to help them continue to reach people facing racial inequalities.”
Photo by Alaur Rahman from Pexels
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.