Please visit the VAWG Grassroots Fund grants page for more up to date information about this Fund and programme.
The London Community Foundation has been chosen to manage the Mayor Office for Policing and Crime’s (MOPAC) Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Grassroots Fund. The £3m fund will focus on supporting existing VAWG-specialist grassroots organisations operating deep in London’s communities.
The Fund will target supporting the resilience of VAWG-specialist organisations, providing two-year funding commitment. It follows consultation earlier this year by MOPAC which found that VAWG-specialist grassroots providers are increasingly dealing with greater and more complex needs. Yet funding for smaller organisations has reduced or is dominated by short-term project funding which is not sustainable. The consultation also found that grassroots organisations led by and for Black and minority ethnic (BME) specific services are disproportionately affected by funding challenges.
About grassroots:
‘Grassroots’ organisations are defined as rooted in, and led by, the communities that they serve and are likely to have an annual income of less than £500k. ‘Communities’ in this context may be understood as ‘communities’ of women and girls, who may or may not live in the same local area but who are connected by their social identity and shared concerns, e.g. community of disabled women or a network of BME survivors of sexual violence. In line with this definition, grassroots organisations may include the following:
- Specialist, BME ending-VAWG organisations
- Women’s community organisations delivering ending-VAWG services as a core aspect of their work; and, or
- Specialist community organisations (e.g. disability rights groups providing ending VAWG service as a core aspect of their work)
The Fund will focus on providing funding to organisations specifically addressing the needs of women with multiple disadvantage and complex needs where mainstream, generic provision is not always appropriate; the needs of marginalised women from BAME backgrounds, LGBTQ+ women, disabled women and women with no recourse to public funds.
In February 2019, the Mayor announced an additional investment of £15m to bolster services that support women and girls who have been the victim of violence in London. This follows the Mayor’s wider VAWG Strategy in which he committed £44m to invest in VAWG services and programmes that deliver ongoing support for victims and survivors and fund rehabilitation projects for perpetrators of domestic violence. This VAWG Grassroots Fund is part of MOPAC’s wider VAWG Strategy and you can find out more about the MOPAC VAWG Strategy here.
Key features of the Fund include:
- Priority focus (60% of funds) on organisations delivering VAWG services by and for BME communities
- Capacity-building support programme to be co-designed with grantees
- Networking events and peer support across grantees
- Engagement of successful grantees in evaluation
- Two-year funding commitment to existing VAWG-specialist organisations
What happens next:
LCF is managing the Fund and programme in partnership with The Social Innovation Partnership (TSIP). The Fund will formally launch in early March but LCF will be holding a series of engagement events in January and February with TSIP to work with VAWG-specialist grassroots organisations to co- design the Prospectus for the Fund. These sessions will also support plans for the capacity building and evaluation for the wider Programme.
To register your organisation’s interest in attending and indicate which date* your organisation may prefer please follow this link. If you have any questions, please email the dedicated email address VAWGGrassrootsFund@londoncf.org.uk.
Do also keep an eye on our Twitter page for daily updates using our hashtag #VAWGGrassrootsFund.
*Dates may be subject to change depending on sign up
