London Funders are working on a long term collaborative funding programme, and are looking for equity-led organisations to get involved at an early stage.
The programme will have several strands, with one of them, ‘Explore’ focussed on enabling communities who have traditionally struggled to access funding to explore, develop and lead collaborative approaches that tackle some of London’s biggest issues.
They are holding pre-application workshops with relevant groups, so that they can:
- Find out more about the grants
- Meet other organisations and think together about the issues that you’d like to focus on (you do not need to have a fully formed idea at this stage)
- Meet the funders involved in this programme
- Hear more about plans for the application process and share any further ideas
Workshops will be held on 14th, 15th and 19th September, both half day and evening sessions, with a mix of in person and online.
How to book
Please register for the session that suits you via their Eventbrite page.
Who should attend?
These grants will prioritise equity-led organisations: that is organisations led by and for marginalised communities, in particular:
- Deaf and Disabled communities
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT+) communities
- Racially minoritised communities
- Women and girls
‘Led by’ if defined as when more than 75% of an organisation’s Trustees and more than 50% of staff members (including senior) are people from the communities that you serve/have lived experience of the issues that your organisation is tackling.
This opportunity is open to:
- Registered, exempted or excepted charities
- Charitable incorporated organisations (CIO)
- Community Interest Company (CIC) limited by guarantee
- Community benefit society (Industrial and Provident society)
Programme Priorities
The programme will focus on three of London’s Recovery Missions as a springboard for action:
- New Deal for Young People: enabling more disadvantaged young people to benefit from quality mentoring and youth activities and powering systemic change and sustainability within the youth sector
- Robust Safety Net: ensuring every Londoner is able to access the support they need to prevent or alleviate financial hardship and building a strong and sustainable advice sector.
- Building Strong Communities: all Londoners will have access to a community hub ensuring they can volunteer, get support and build strong community networks. A strong civil society will ensure communities have the voice and tools to make London a more equal and inclusive city.
About the Explore Grants
Explore Grants will be up to one year for organisations to explore the issues they want to tackle, how change might be possible and who needs to be involved in making the change happen.
The initial grants may lead onto a long term, extended, flexible funding partnership. The funders want to build collaborations to act together to tackle the issues facing London, from tackling structural inequalities to the cost of living crisis, drawing on the strengths and assets of us all.
It is anticipated up to 20 grants in the region of £50k each will be made.
Who are London Funders?
London Funders bring funders together to build a better London by taking action on what matters to our city and our communities.
From the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 to the pandemic in 2020, they have also been bringing our members together in times of crisis, ensuring that there has been an effective, coordinated response from funders to support London’s communities.
You can read more about the funding programme on their website.