Co-designing the VAWG Grassroots Fund

Earlier this year LCF announced the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime's £3 million Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Grassroots Fund.

The Fund's aim is to build the resilience of VAWG-specialist organisations operating across London’s diverse communities, bringing hope and support to women and girls affected by violence. In particular, the Fund will focus on funding BME organisations run by and for the women they support who have been disproportionately affected by funding cuts as a result of austerity. 

In order to make sure we achieve this, it was important we work with grassroots organisations to help design what this Fund will look like. The unique and trusted role they have in tackling VAWG with their communities is recognised and valued - through how decisions will be made, and the type of support grantees will receive. 

Between January and February 2020 over 70 grassroots organisations delivering VAWG services took part in sessions and calls with LCF and our partner, The Social Innovation Partnership to co-design the programme of funding, capacity building, peer support and evaluation.

It was a great opportunity to network with women doing similar work, as well as to contribute and learn.
Attendee at engagement session


These were incredibly insightful sessions which saw organisations across 23 London boroughs and a variety of service specialisms feed in their ideas and share any concerns they had. Thank you to all of these organisations whose insights have helped co-produce the Fund's Prospectus and priorities.

Nice to see a fund with an intersectional approach!
Attendee at engagement session


You can download the Feedback from these sessions below.

For more information and details of how to apply once the fund opens, click here.