Community Foundation NI: Equity in Action Fund

Overview

The Equity in Action Fund will support small-scale, innovative, and community-based initiatives that actively address and counter:

• Hate crimes and hate incidents
• The spread of misinformation and disinformation (particularly online)
• The intersection of both, including how false narratives contribute to prejudice and violence

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must meet the following:

• Be a constituted organisation with charitable purposes
• Demonstrate experience or a clear plan to engage in work aligned with the fund’s themes
• Be able to deliver the proposed project within a 12 month period

Priority Areas

Projects should address one or more of the following:

• Prevention of Hate Crime: Community engagement, education, or interventions that reduce bias-motivated incidents
• Countering Misinformation and Disinformation: Fact-checking initiatives, public education campaigns, or media literacy efforts
• Support for Affected Communities: Programmes offering legal, mental health, or community support to those impacted by hate crimes or targeted misinformation
• Digital Resilience: Tools, workshops, or campaigns helping communities recognise, report, or resist online manipulation and hate speech
• Youth Engagement: Youth-led or youth-targeted initiatives addressing online harm, radicalisation, or bias

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Financial support for people who are afraid to leave their homes/relocate affected people
• Co-ordinating local response across groups
• Resourcing community support spaces and costs associated with security measures.
• Provision of additional safeguarding and mental health support to staff and those they work with
• Sharing of safety information with people at risk

Funding Levels

• Grants between £3,000 to £5,000

They are happy to be flexible with costs and can support costs associated with staff time, materials, events, technology, training, outreach, evaluation, or anything that will align well with the fund priorities

Priorities for assessment

1. Relevance & Impact: Does the project directly address hate crime or mis/disinformation? Is the impact meaningful for the target community?
2. Community-Led: Is the project informed by or led by communities most affected?
3. Innovation & Feasibility: Is the approach creative and achievable within the proposed timeframe?
4. Collaboration: Does it involve partnerships or community collaboration?