Comic Relief launches £3m fund to support communities experiencing racism across the UK

CHARITY Comic Relief on Monday(2) launched a new fund worth nearly £3million to support communities experiencing racial inequality across the UK.

Under the fund, £2,150,000 will be made available from Monday, and the remaining £800,000 will be distributed to intermediary technical partners that applied for funding in July, to distribute to community groups.

It is part of the Global Majority Fund, an initiative in partnership with the National Emergencies Trust (NET), Barclays and The Clothworkers’ Foundation.

Comic Relief and NET first collaborated in July 2020 to create a £3.4m fund for projects led by those experiencing racial inequalities, and due to the overwhelming response, an additional £2,950,000 is now being made available, a statement said.

Organisations taking an intersectional approach, working with communities experiencing racial inequality and other inequities, including other protected characteristics or lived experiences can apply for the new fund.

“Across the UK, communities experiencing racial inequality have been disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, which right now, is showing no end in sight. It’s a distressing time for many, and local projects closest to the communities they support need us to step up," said Ruth Davison, chief executive at Comic Relief.

"We are delighted to be partnering with the National Emergencies Trust and The Clothworkers’ Foundation once again to provide millions more in funding and help more people through this incredibly difficult and uncertain time.”

Comic Relief is looking to recruit 10-15 new intermediary technical partners with the skills, expertise and networks to distribute and manage funding to a range of locally led grassroots projects.

More than £1.9m from Comic Relief’s first wave of funding has now been distributed to support a diverse range of projects.

Mhairi Sharp, director of the National Emergencies Trust, said: “These projects are providing a lifeline to their communities in this time of dire need, but are far too often disconnected from traditional funding sources. Beyond this Fund, and this emergency, there is much work to be done to rectify systemic issues with racial inequality.”

Nigel Higgins, Barclays chairman, said: “Covid-19 has created an unprecedented social and economic impact in the UK, with many experiencing greater hardship due to the crisis. As a bank we have been doing all we can for our customers, clients and colleagues, and we hope that through partnerships with charities across the UK, collectively we can ensure that as many people as possible in the communities in which we live and work are supported through this crisis.”