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Community Foundation for NI: Social Justice Small Grants Programme

Community Foundation for Northern Ireland
Open (with deadline for applications) Active citizenship Advice services Age discrimination Community and neighbourhood development Community development Cross community Democracy and freedom Gender equality and sexual orientation good relations Human rights and equality Human rights and justice Multiculturalism Peace and reconciliation People with disabilities Policy, advocacy and campaigning Poverty and deprivation Racial equality Refugees and asylum seekers Social inclusion Social partnership Social welfare and poverty Voluntary and community infrastructure Antrim & Newtownabbey Ards & North Down Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Belfast City Causeway Coast and Glens Derry City and Strabane Fermanagh and Omagh Lisburn and Castlereagh Mid and East Antrim Mid Ulster Newry, Mourne and Down Northern Ireland Medium (up to £60,000) Small (up to £10,000)

Overview

Aims of the Social Justice Fund:

To support local community groups to give voice to excluded groups, and work to advance a fairer and more equal society where the human rights of all are protected.

Target Group: Community Sector

The fund will support locally based community groups and locally based ‘communities of interest’ with an interest in promoting or embedding human rights and social justice in their day-to-day work for and with their chosen communities.

Funding Levels

Grants will be available up to £5,000.

In some instances, the panel may decide to award grants up to £15,000.

Objectives:

Applications must demonstrate that their proposal will contribute to at least one of the following objectives:

  • To give voice and power to those whose human rights are most at risk and to support them to challenge inequality, exclusion, and unfairness.
  • To provide groups and communities with support to challenge, monitor and remedy inequality and rights violations.
  • To increase awareness of and contribute to building a culture of rights within and between communities, particularly those most marginalized from decision making
  • To support communities and marginalized groups to find solutions to contentious issues

Values:

Applicants must demonstrate in their application how they will advance and adhere to the values of the NIHRF:

  • Inclusive – drawing on human rights expertise, including those with lived experience, to develop NIHRF’s strategy, grant making and learning.
  • Applying a rights-based approach – adhering to the principles of participation, accountability, non-discrimination, empowerment, and legality.
  • Collaborative – The essence of the NIHRF is partnership and collaboration based on mutual trust which draws on the strengths of the partners who will work together to advance the NIHRF’s purpose.
  • Encouraging Learning – the NIHRF will support learning between all partners, actively encouraging, listening and being open to responding and adapting.
  • Courageous – They will approach complexity with courage and ambition and be open to new solutions to entrenched problems.

They would particularly welcome applications for projects which focus on peacebuilding/legacy, racial justice, gender, health, socio-economic rights, tech, and digital rights, (including the need for accountability and safeguards), and climate.

Project Ideas:

  • Rights/Culture/Identity Projects
  • Anti-Poverty Initiatives
  • Projects which contribute to Peace Building
  • Projects which tackle digital justice, environmental justice, and feminism

Elligiblity:

To be eligible for consideration for a grant, the applicant groups must:

  • be constituted and based in Northern Ireland or working towards being constituted
  • have an active committee and current bank account
  • maintain financial records and present accounts to your AGM
  • provide minutes of committee meetings
  • have at least three cheque signatories who are unrelated
  • have an income of £1.5m or less

The success rate for the last round of the Social Justice Small Grants Programme was 31%.