2019 Grant Fund recipients

We have finally chosen and paid the recipients for our 2019 Grant Fund. For those of you who’ve not come across this fund before we offer small grants of £250 to £1000 for community groups, charities and other not-for-profit organisations (including other CICs). The application window is every March, after the end of our financial year. We keep the application process fairly light to encourage very small groups to apply, but we also get applications from large charities with dedicated fund-raisers. The main criteria are that whatever they’re doing must benefit communities living in Birmingham, UK and must not promote religious belief.

We’re always over-subscribed and this year was no different, with about five times more money applied for than we had in the fund. It makes the selection process, carried out by the TWF team, really difficult. Turning down worthwhile projects by outstanding people is the least pleasant aspect of this work.

Still, on with the news: who’s getting some funding and what are they doing? Here goes:

MAIA Creatives CIC: The Consent Project wants to extend the dialogue around race and sexual violence, abuse, rape, exploitation and coercive control. Working in collaboration with the Rape and Sexual Violence Project (RSVP) and REIGN Manchester, the project seeks to create safe digital and real-life spaces for those who have been affected or those at risk to connect, support each other and exchange resources.

Baobab Women’s Project: assists and empowers refugee, asylum seeking and migrant women enabling them to live fulfilling lives, free from violence and discrimination. BWP assist women suffering hardship due to immigration status, domestic or gender violence, labour and sex trafficking or domestic servitude. They provide; advice & assistance, raise awareness and organise social and well-being activity. They undertake outreach visits and recruit refugee and migrant women as volunteer peer advocates, providing them with advocacy training so that they in turn can provide 1-1 support to other women who are going through similar hardships which they have overcome. 

Centre of Light: The Welcome Program encourages young volunteers and youths in highly deprived areas of Birmingham to support the welcoming of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees and their integration process in both society and their new country through the use of non-formal education and youth work. The project aims to increase the impact of the youths’ and volunteers’ engagement in welcoming migrants while encouraging public opinion in Birmingham to be more open towards migrants. Volunteers are empowered to take action in contributing to welcome refugees and newly arrived migrants into local communities. The project actively promotes mutual understanding and respect among young people with different ethnic backgrounds with the aim of facilitating intercultural dialogue and learning as well as supporting the inclusion of the newcomers in local communities.

Panathlon Foundation: The aim of the ‘Reducing Isolation’ project is to develop Panathlon’s Deaf and Hearing Impaired programme in Birmingham. Panathlon have made huge strides in connecting young deaf people together, to provide them with sporting activities in which they might otherwise struggle to engage.

Dogs Trust: Dogs Trust is the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, rehoming over 15,000 dogs every year. Their mission is to work towards the day when all dogs can enjoy a happy life, free from the threat of unnecessary destruction. They never put down a healthy dog in their care. Dog School is a national network of experienced trainers providing fun, educational courses for all dog owners based on up-to-date scientific research. The classes, tailored to meet the needs of attending dogs and their owners, will give owners and dogs the foundations they need to develop a strong bond and to cope with everyday domestic life, avoiding some of the common pitfalls which lead to problem behaviours. This funding will contribute to a Dog School in Birmingham.

We’ll be keeping you up-to-date on the progress of these projects in future posts. If you or a group you know could benefit from a grant, please bookmark the application page and stick a note in your calendar for next March.

Author: Mike Mounfield

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