Esmee Fairbairn Foundation: A Fairer Future

Overview

In October 2020, they launched a new strategy to improve our natural world, strengthen the bonds in UK communities and secure a fairer future. 

Overview of of A Fairer Future

They want to provide the support and space to enable others they work alongside to create lasting change, and to challenge systems that stand in the way.

They want to contribute to a socially just and anti-racist society, where people have their rights protected, as well as the opportunity to speak and be heard, and the freedom to express their creativity. And across all their work in A Fairer Future, they are keen to support organisations led by the people they serve.

Working with others, they will contribute to three key impact goals by 2030 and have 5 priorities:

The five priorities

Arts and creativity making change

They are focusing support on two ways in which culture and creativity can build a fairer future:

• Creating a cultural workforce that is more reflective of UK society, by enabling more people to progress in their career in the arts who identify as D/deaf, disabled or neurodivergent, are from communities experiencing racial inequity, or who are economically disadvantaged.
• Supporting young people to build their own creative lives and to use arts and creativity to influence the world around them.

What they want to achieve

• Impact Goals
  • Improved systems, policy and practice
  • Organisations are strengthened to use their power to tackle systemic injustice and inequity
  • Organisations work together and build movements to tackle systemic injustice and inequity
• Long-term Goals
  • A representative cultural workforce led by a new and diverse generation of cultural leaders.
  • Youth-led creativity builds on young people's power to make change, using creativity to enhance their lives, develop their careers, and influence the world around them. Closed to applications

Targeting their support:

They make 8-12 grants a year towards a more representative cultural workforce. As demand is very high, they encourage applicants to consider how closely their work fits what they want to support as this informs their decision-making. Read their guidance to learn more.

They will prioritise funding organisations that:

• Are led by and for underrepresented groups that need support to grow their work
• Have strong networks and evidence of contributing to long-term change and share power with underrepresented groups.

They also want to allocate more of our funding outside London, and to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

See all their grants towards Arts and creativity making change funding priority.

Children and young people’s rights

Creating a fairer future requires lasting changes to policy and practice that gets support to children in the vital first years of life, and to young people at important transitions in adolescence.

This particularly includes those at risk of school exclusion or in contact with the care or youth justice system, along with earlier support for disabled young people and those with special education needs.

Through everything they do, they commit to supporting young people who have known injustice in their lives to drive change, reimagine and create a fairer future.

What they want to achieve

• Impact goals
  • Improved systems, policy and practice
  • Organisations are strengthened to use their power to tackle systemic injustice and inequity
  • Organisations work together and build movements to tackle systemic injustice and inequity
• Long-term outcomes
  • A shift in early years provision to ensure that young children (aged 0-5) and their families facing barriers have quality support. Closed to applications
  • Fewer young people, particularly those with SEND and/or experiencing racial inequity, in contact with the youth justice system, and excluded from school.
  • Children’s rights are better met, with specialist legal support and better protection for marginalised groups.
  • Young people (aged 14-25) with experience of injustice create and lead positive change, and shape decision making.
  • An end to the ‘cliff edge’ of support for young people leaving care. Closed to applications

Please note: grant applications for their outcomes towards 'early years provision' and 'young people leaving care' are by invitation only.

If you are interested in applying for funding towards their other outcomes, please see their guidance for support to learn more about the work they're looking to support under the relevant long-term outcome. You can also watch their Q&A webinar on our Children and young people's rights priority.

See all grants towards Children and young people's rights funding priority.

Racial justice

Racial equity and justice are a fundamental necessity for a socially and economically healthy nation.

The historic under-funding of organisations led by people experiencing racial inequity has undermined progress toward this ambition. Their efforts need to be rooted in a better understanding of the interconnected nature of racial inequity and injustice across all parts of their strategy. Providing support that is sustainable, accessible and responsive will enable these organisations to create a more equitable future, while determining for themselves the best way they can thrive and achieve impact.

What they want to achieve

• Impact goals
  • Improved systems, policy and practice
  • Organisations are strengthened to use their power to tackle systemic injustice and inequity
  • Organisations work together and build movements to tackle systemic injustice and inequity
• Long-term outcomes
  • Organisations working towards racial justice across our strategy, led by people experiencing racial inequity, are financially resilient and socially transformative.
  • Racial inequity in leadership is challenged and changed.
  • Harm caused by racial injustice in systems, policy and practice is reduced.

If you are interested in applying for funding under this priority, please see their guidance for support. You can also watch Q&A webinar on our priorities for Racial justice, Gender justice, and Migrant justice.

See all grants towards racial justice funding priority.

Gender justice

Gender justice requires changes to systems, policy and practice so that everyone's rights are recognised and protected. They will work with others to ensure that women and girls can live in safety and fulfil their potential, and that transgender and non-binary people’s voices are heard.

What they want to achieve

• Impact goals
  • Improved systems, policy and practice
  • Organisations are strengthened to use their power to tackle systemic injustice and inequity
  • Organisations work together and build movements to tackle systemic injustice and inequity
• Long-term outcomes
  • Gender based violence is reduced through the delivery of preventative work.
  • Trans and non-binary people’s rights are recognised and protected.
  • Policy, practice, and the law better meets the needs of women experiencing multiple challenges and discrimination.
  • The negative impacts of the criminal justice system on women and their families are reduced.

If you are interested in applying for funding under this priority, please see their guidance for support. You can also watch Q&A webinar on our priorities for Racial justice, Gender justice, and Migrant justice.

See all grants towards gender justice funding priority.

Migrant justice

The power and leadership of those with experience of migration, asylum and detention are essential to achieve a society where migrants, refugees and asylum seekers have the tools and resources to understand and advocate for their rights, have their rights protected and can live in safety.

Working in partnership, they will support the development of a just legislative framework, a less polarising public narrative and on ensuring that migrants have access to legal help that enables them to secure their rights.

What they want to achieve

• Impact goals
  • Improved systems, policy and practice
  • Organisations are strengthened to use their power to tackle systemic injustice and inequity
  • Organisations work together and build movements to tackle systemic injustice and inequity
• Long-term outcomes
  • Migrants have improved access to legal help to exercise their rights.
  • Legislation and support ensure that migrants' rights are protected, and reflects their needs.
  • Public understanding and discussion of migration issues is better informed, particularly by those with lived experience of the migration system.

If you are interested in applying for funding under this priority, please see guidance for support. You can also watch Q&A webinar on our priorities for Racial justice, Gender justice, and Migrant justice.

See all grants towards Migrant justice priority.

Financial Support

Grant funding approach

Their grants support organisation's core or project costs, including staff salaries and overheads. They also provide unrestricted funding for charities. They do not fund building or equipment costs, or individuals.

The minimum amount they offer is £30,000 and they have no maximum amount. 

They also do not have minimum or maximum terms for grants – however, the majority of their grants are for three to five years.

They are aiming to make more longer-term grants to organisations that will have a lasting and significant contribution to their impact goals, and fewer short-term or small-scale grants.

• Around two thirds of their active grants are for core costs, or are unrestricted.
• Most of our grants are for three years to five years.

Decisions are made depending on the size of the funding request:

• Grants up to £90k - Executive Team
• Grants up to £250k & social investment up to £500k - Executive/Trustee committee, which meets every 6 weeks
• Grants over £250k and Social Investment over £500k - Trustee Board, which meets 6 times a year

They aim to give you a decision within three months of receiving your proposal. However, there may be a few occasions where larger requests take longer due to the timing of their Board meetings. Decisions are usually faster for smaller grants (£90,000 or less).

Success rates for applications in 2023 (excluding those for follow-on grants and those we have proactively invited)

• 7% of eligible expressions of interest were invited to submit a proposal
• 93% of proposals submitted went on to be awarded a grant

Social investments

Their social investments start with the social or environmental need and tailor the investment to it and offering flexibility. Co-design and learning are integral to their process. As well as making direct investments into organisations seeking to create impact towards their aims, they also invest into impact funds, which are managed by other social investors.

To be eligible for social investment, you must:

• Deliver or plan to deliver measurable outcomes that align closely to the priorities under our aims.
• Be a charity or social enterprise or have a structure that includes a Mission Lock or be willing to add one.
• Demonstrate a suitable repayment or exit plan for the investment you are seeking.
• Be operating in the UK.

They are particularly interested in supporting

• Organisations led by, and for, people with lived experience of the issues they are working on.
• Ideas with the potential to influence wider positive change, help attract mainstream finance into impact or disrupt broken markets. See their Investment priorities for examples.
• Ideas, structures and interventions that meaningfully involve their communities.
• Impact that intersects across one or more of our Aims.
• Partnerships and collaborations.

Decisions are made depending on the size of the funding request:

• Social investment up to £500k - Executive/Trustee committee, which meets every 6 weeks. In some cases, our Executive/Trustee Committee will ask the Board to review a proposal of under £500k if they identify a particular risk or complexity.
• Social investment over £500k - Trustee Board, which meets 6 times a year

The amount of time this process takes varies according to many factors, but three months is a reasonable minimum expectation.

Visit here for further information.