St Stephens Green Trust: Supporting Inter-Community Practice and Activism (SIPA)

Overview

St. Stephen’s Green Trust (SSGT) is a charitable foundation which respects human dignity and is committed to helping create a society where the dignity of all can be realised through social justice and inclusive, nurturing communities. The Trust has supported organisations working on issues of social justice in Ireland, north and south, over the past 25yrs and believes that the strengthening of collaborative and supportive relationships within and between communities is essential for peace-building.

This three year grant programme follows on from a two-year pilot for work focused on An interim report on the pilot is available on SSGT’s grant programme reports section.

What kind of work is funded?

The three-year programme - 2020-2022 – will focus on the following outcomes:

· Supporting groups for grassroots work at a neighbourhood level that helps build confidence, relationships and effective activism amongst women and women’s groups; and/or young people and youth groups; and/or people involved in place-based activism around issues of common interest;

· Work that builds confidence of participants and groups and builds and strengthens relationships within and between communities;

· Work undertaken by geographical and/or thematic clusters of organisations that might be further developed with grant support.

SSGT aims to be flexible in the type of inter and/or intra-community work which might be supported but groups will need to clearly state why they believe their proposed programme of work will result in the outcomes sought by the grant programme.

Grants of between £5,000 and £20,000 per year will be available for work starting in Jan 2020 for three years. Annual reports are required and they will prioritise work which cannot be funded from other sources.

The programme includes a focus on learning and grantees will be required to gather information which allows them (and SSGT) to reflect on progress – if needed, support will be given for this. Grantees will also be required to participate in a learning network of funded groups to share their experiences and reflections, both with each other and with SSGT. This will involve two half-day meetings a year.

Selection Criteria

Criteria for selection include evidence that the proposed work offers the potential to provide a step change in ongoing work or work already taken, the potential for the proposed work to strengthen local confidence, leadership and participation on an inclusive basis, a willingness to engage in sharing and critical reflection, evidence of the need for funding for the project and the potential for long-term impact.

If you are applying to SSGT when a grant round is open, please read the guidelines carefully, note their general exclusions, the dates of when to apply and understand the application process. Examples of grants awarded can be seen in their annual reports.