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London Now Now: Opportunities for Black & Global Majority Led Organisations

FUNDING: Innovate Now Round 3 with City Bridge Foundation

Innovate Now with City Bridge Foundation will provide 64 London-based Black-led charities and enterprises with £12,000 grant funding, bespoke support and £3,000 in compensated capacity building. We will help your organisation build financial resilience and operational readiness, increase your chances of raising social investment and create a sustainable future for your organisation.

Place-based: Greater London

Deadline: 4/12/2024

Find out more and apply – https://www.doitnownow.com/current-programmes

 

FUNDING: Make it Big Round 2 with Pathway Fund

Make It Big with Pathway Fund will provide eight selected charities and social enterprises with £25,000 in grant funding, along with tailored support and capacity-building resources. Our goal is to help your organisation strengthen its financial resilience and operational capacity, paving the way for future social investment.

Place-based: England

Deadline: 14/01/2025

Find out more and apply – https://www.doitnownow.com/current-programmes

 

FUNDING: Innovate Now Round 4 with Impact on Urban Health

This is a 24-month programme designed to empower Black-led food initiatives that are addressing urban health challenges in Lambeth and Southwark. We are committed to supporting 10 Black-led organisations that are actively contributing to equitable food access and promoting health in their communities. Each selected organisation will receive £20,000 in funding, inclusive of £3,000 for compensated capacity building, plus ongoing support tailored to their unique mission.

Place-based: Lambeth and Southwark borough in Greater London

Deadline: 14/01/2025

Find out more and apply – https://www.doitnownow.com/current-programmes

 

CAPACITY BUILDING: London Now Now

London Now Now is a groundbreaking initiative that aims to support and empower 30,000 Black-led community impact projects in London by 2030. The programme responds to the unique challenges faced by Black leaders of charities and social enterprises, many of whom work in underserved areas with limited resources and support.

Place-based: For this first stage, we are looking for Black leaders in Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Greenwich, Hackney, Havering, Lewisham, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets, and Waltham Forest to help shape London Now Now. Join us in creating programmes that uplift and empower.

Our goal is to rebuild trust between these leaders and grant funders and ensure that Black-led organisations survive and thrive, providing critical services to their communities. Through this programme, we are committed to strengthening local leadership and enabling Black leaders to expand their impact and become community pillars.

How can you take part? 

Express your interest. You will significantly shape London Now Now, ensuring we address the most pressing needs and opportunities for organisations like yours. Your insights are the key to creating a programme that genuinely supports the communities it serves.

👉 Your voice matters—fill in the survey: https://airtable.com/appWbv233vg3ItvB0/shrFRFZbtW4kLGS9q

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Disability Inclusion on Charity Boards: In-person Peer Session for London Chairs

Tuesday 14 January, 6 – 8pm

Association of Chairs is delighted to partner with Inclusion London for our January London peer session. Stephen Bunbury, Co-Chair for Inclusion London and Co-Chair of the BME Colleague Network at the University of Westminster will be joining us.  In this session, we will be exploring the ‘skills gap’ often found on Disabled-led charity boards.  It is often the case that attracting Disabled talent with the skill set for a charity board is increasingly difficult because of structural barriers that often disproportionally limit opportunities for Disabled individuals with lived experience of disability.

AoC runs monthly in-person peer sessions in London. These are two hour facilitated sessions, where you will be introduced to fellow Chairs, get to know each other and talk though issues with other Chairs who share similar challenges and experiences.

Find out more and book your place here:

https://www.associationofchairs.org.uk/events/peer-support-group-session-for-london-chairs-12/

 

Peer support group session for London Chairs – Association of Chairs

Are you keen to talk though issues with other Chairs who share similar challenges and can share experiences and ideas?  Do you want to build a network of Chairs who you can chat to? We’re pleased to announce a new series of face-to-face peer sessions in London designed to offer you support and help you build a network of Chairs you can call on for ideas, and encouragement.

www.associationofchairs.org.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Funding for Special Schools and Colleges (UK)

Grants of up to £75,000 are available to special schools and colleges for children and young people with special educational needs. Grants are awarded towards capital costs such as new buildings, refurbishing existing buildings, and equipment. The funding is available for projects focused on helping pupils develop skills that would help them gain employment or live independently after leaving school or college. The grants are made through the Wolfson Foundation’s Special Schools and Colleges grants programme. There is a 2-stage application process. Stage 1 applications can be submitted between the 20th November 2024 and the 5th January 2025. The next stage 1 closing date is the 1st July 2024. Applications successful at this stage will have until the 1st March 2025 to complete the stage 2 application. Funding for Special Schools and Colleges (UK)

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Grants of up to £10,000 to Support Grassroots Charities (UK)

Grants of up to £10,000 are available to support small, grassroots and local charities currently delivering services to the young, vulnerable, elderly, disadvantaged or the general community across the UK. The funding, which is being made available through Foyle Foundation’s Small Grants Scheme, can be used to cover projects, core costs, building projects, or essential equipment to enable ongoing service provision for charities with a turnover of less than £150,000 per annum that can show financial stability and a clear need for their services. The Foyle Foundation will close all of its grant-making programmes by the end of January 2025, and the final closing date for applications to the small grants programme is the 31st of January 2025. All projects/activities need to be completed by the end of 2025 to be eligible for consideration. Grants of up to £10,000 to Support Grassroots Charities (UK)

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Building Resilient Communities: The Case for Social Cohesion

Join us for the launch of this timely report, commissioned by the Greater London Authority and produced by Protection Approaches, exploring the critical role of social cohesion in enhancing community resilience.

Based on in-depth research including consultation with over one hundred community and faith organisations in London, the report draws from the capital’s diverse experiences to offer insights with broad implications for resilience-building across the UK.

Date: Monday 2nd December

Time: 2pm-3pm

Location: Zoom

Register online now.

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Mayor of London Launches New FREE EDI Toolkits Support Service

The Mayor’s Workforce Integration Network (WIN) aims to tackle labour market inequality by working with employers and civil society to address structural barriers that prevent underrepresented groups from accessing good work across key sectors in London. 

In 2024, we launched our updated Inclusive Employer Toolkits, which provide employers of all sizes in the creative and cultural, digital and technology, green, healthcare, and hospitality sectors of London’s economy with clear steps they can take to improve diversity and inclusion in their workforce. Based on original research with employees and employers in each sector, the toolkits propose steps which are specific to the current challenges and context of each sector.

WIN is pleased to announce the launch of a new Implementation Support Programme tailored for Health sectors. This support programme is free to all participants and will equip you with both improved awareness and actionable strategies to foster diverse and inclusive workplaces that drive business performance. The programme includes a series of learning sessions, events and access to a virtual knowledge hub, all with the aim to help you internalise the WIN Toolkit and gain the following benefits:

– Grow through Inclusion: Enhance both financial and non-financial aspects of your organisation.

– Modular Learning: Tailor your participation to fit your organisational needs.

– Networking Opportunities: Engage with peers within and beyond your sector.

– Expert Guidance: Benefit from insights shared by EDI and industry experts.

– Virtual Knowledge Hub: Access resources for effective toolkit implementation.

We are launching a first round of events regarding this support service, taking place in November and December. This round is intended to be an awareness-building session designed for organisations who are not familiar with the toolkits and the same workshop will be delivered on these three dates:

.     12 November, 1 – 2:30pm

.     20 November, 11am – 12:30pm

.     5 December, 3 – 4:30pm

Our delivery partners In Diverse Company, who are the organisers, will give participants an overview of the WIN toolkits and its sections, share key principles and industry best practices for the actions, highlight some foundational actions within the various toolkits, and provide case studies and examples of how the actions are being implemented in various sectors and industries. Each session will include a space for participants to have group discussions about these action areas, share their reflections/experiences, and ask questions. Future rounds of events and the launch of our virtual knowledge hub will take place in 2025.

To sign up to this new programme and confirm your attendance, please complete our survey. If this programme is not suitable for you, but you believe other organisations may benefit from participating, we would encourage you to share this with your professional networks.

Should you have any questions regarding the Inclusive Employer Toolkits or our Implementation Support service, please do not hesitate to get in touch:

E: amin.aboushagor@london.gov.uk 

M: 07763254225

We look forward to working in partnership with you to support your EDI efforts and create a more inclusive London for all.

 

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Over 7,000 Charities Sign Letter to Chancellor

More than 7,000 charities have signed a letter urging chancellor Rachel Reeves to ease the burden of an estimated extra £1.4bn per year that the sector will have to pay in employer national insurance contributions (NICs). Read more here.

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Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Findings

Russell-Cooke, one of the legal advisors to the victims of the Grenfell Fire disaster, has welcomed the findings and recommendations set out in the final Phase 2 Report by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, and joins calls for additional measures to urgently address delays in the removal of dangerous cladding.

The report, published today, comes more than four years after the Inquiry’s Phase 1 Report, and more than seven years on from the fire at Grenfell Tower in June 2017. It presents the Inquiry’s findings following approximately 400 days of public hearings between 2020 and 2022, in which evidence was heard from expert witnesses, local authority leaders, corporate executives from the construction and property industries, as well as the bereaved, survivors, and residents (BSR) of the Grenfell Tower.

The findings cover a number of critical issues including causation, responsibility, decision making, and the dangers associated with various combinations of cladding and insulation. Read on

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Hammersmith & Fulham Healthy Homes Launch Event

Hammersmith & Fulham are excited to announce the launch event for our new partner, Groundwork, who will be providing a fuel poverty service to residents and community organisations within our borough! This partnership will host a range of services such as home and telephone consultations to residents to help improve the energy efficiency of their homes and access grants available to them, host webinars, and attend outreach events for the promotion of services and grants to community organisations. The event will bring together Councillor Harvey and Councillor Harcourt, key community stakeholders, and internal council teams who support individuals experiencing fuel poverty.

This event will take place on Tuesday 19th November 14:00-15:30 at Riverside Studios, 101 Queen Caroline Street, W6 9BN.

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Funding to Support Community Empowerment Initiatives (England)

The National Lottery Community Fund has announced a new Community Power Fund aimed at empowering local communities across England. Prior to launching the programme, the NLCF will work with partners during a one-year development phase. Supported by up to £1.2 million in funding, this phase will shape how the fund runs in the future. Between 10 and 15 community, voluntary, and public sector organisations will be supported in running new or existing initiatives to strengthen community power, particularly amongst excluded, marginalised, and underrepresented groups. Organisations will receive grants ranging from £50,000 to £80,000 each to work together on evaluating effective strategies, identifying barriers, and determining the resources needed for sustainable community power-building efforts. Expressions of interest open on the 8th January 2025. Funding to Support Community Empowerment Initiatives (England)

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