Grant awards - phase two
In phase two, grants between £25,000 and £50,000 have been awarded to 14 equity-led community groups to reach out to under-registered and under-represented communities to:
- Deliver impartial awareness raising and informational activity on the voting system changes in trusted community settings at local level and pan-London
- Raise awareness among Londoners from under-registered and under-represented communities, disproportionally impacted by the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis, and ensure they do not lose their voice and their vote by supporting them to register to vote, apply for an approved photo Voter ID or the free Voter Authority Certificate.
Information on grantees will be shared here when funding has been awarded.
Age UK Westminster and Age UK Kensington & Chelsea will run a joint campaign to raise awareness among older Londoners in these boroughs with a combination of in-person and online activities. With their online campaign, they will also reach older Londoners across London with the support of Age UK London. Activities include face to face events and visits to community centres, digital clinics, dissemination of tailored information online and offline, including in local publications. Resources will be translated into Spanish, Arabic and French.
The Bulgarian Centre for Social Integration and Culture will develop activities and materials for Bulgarian Londoners, including Bulgarian Roma. The focus is Haringey and Enfield, where most of the community is based in London. Activity includes outreach and support in schools, community centres, libraries, cafes, food banks and cultural events. This will be supported by a digital campaign with videos and webinars which will be live streamed on social media and on Bulgarian Facebook forums.
The CLAUK coalition, made up of six Latin American-led partners, including lead partner Indoamerican Refugee and Migrant Organisation (IRMO), will work in Camden, Hackney, Islington, Lambeth and Southwark to deliver outreach and support sessions across partner sites, popular locations and community events for London’s Latin American communities. This will be complemented by a pan-London awareness-raising campaign online and in print, in Spanish and in Portuguese, including articles in community press outlets.
Disability Action Haringey, working with Inclusion Barnet, Camden Action Disability, Disability Action in Islington, Choice in Hackney, Ruils in Richmond and Inclusion London, will hold bespoke information sessions and support across their respective boroughs, specifically targeting D/deaf and disabled communities in inclusive and accessible formats. This partnership will also enable them to disseminate materials to London's wider D/deaf and disabled organisations and communities.
Building on their existing networks and relationships with places of worship and faith leaders, Faiths Forum will work across 12 religious and educational centres, including Black-led churches, mosques, gurdwaras, a Jewish seminary and Black and minority ethnic university societies. Through a network of trained ‘Community Champions’ at each of these sites, Faiths Forum will implement bespoke engagement events, regular information stalls and support sessions, and faith, culture, and language specific videos, posters and infographics.
LGBT HERO will work in partnership with the LGBT Consortium to deliver an outreach, training and awareness campaign, overseen by a steering group of community members. They will run in-person drop-ins, information stalls in LGBTQ+ venues, community centres, educational settings and community events in London, with a particular focus on spaces that cater to trans and non-binary Londoners, Black, South Asian and minority ethnic and younger LGBTQ+ Londoners. During these outreach events, LGBT HERO will offer information, advice and support with applications for an accepted form of photo Voter ID, as well as distribute flyers, “wallet info cards” and posters.
Henna Asian Women's Group will provide information and organise events for the South Asian community, with a focus on in-person activity, held in English, Bengali, Urdu, Hindi, Gujarati and Pashto. Regular drop-ins and events will include “kettle on” meetings and “Forms on Friday” weekly form filling advice sessions to ensure community members get support when applying for an accepted photo Voter ID, or registering to vote. Videos on how to complete forms for photo Voter ID in community languages will be used to inform more widely and be promoted through a social media campaign.
New Europeans UK will develop resources to help European Londoners understand their voting rights, hosted on their online Resource Hub, which offers European citizens across London support on a range of topics in community languages. They will also disseminate resources and organise offline activity working closely with three community groups, serving EU citizens of Somali origin, Albanian origin, and Roma communities. The work will be concentrated in the London Boroughs of Enfield, Barking & Dagenham, and Newham.
This project will work with care experienced young people, undertaking outreach to all borough-based Children in Care Councils and Participation Workers to raise awareness about the photo Voter ID requirement and to support care - experienced young people to get registered to vote. This will include creating and sharing resources and running workshops. The project will be informed by an insight-gathering exercise on the barriers to civic and democratic participation that care - experienced young people face.
The Politics Project will engage young people (18-24) directly through workshops in youth work settings and schools. While working with a network of youth organisations and education institutions across London, they will develop training and resources to support youth practitioners to discuss political literacy and access to democratic rights with young Londoners in a non-party political, straightforward and engaging way. To support practitioners further, they will hold a space for youth practitioners to come together and share ideas, issues and good practice.
Refugee Workers Cultural Association aims to empower the Kurdish and Turkish communities in Enfield, Hackney, Haringey and Islington by providing them with the knowledge, tools, and support necessary to exercise their civic and democratic rights. Activities include informative workshops, educational materials in Turkish and English, open discussions and a digital campaign. They will also collaborate with local stakeholders, media outlets, and community organisations to amplify the project's reach across London.
RAD will work with D/deaf Londoners to raise awareness of the democratic system, share information on the process and support them with voter registration and applications for photo Voter ID. They will hold workshops online, and in-person at social, sporting, community and religious events. They will also provide one-to-one advice and guidance through their existing support services. They will create information and guidance in BSL, including ‘explainer’ and ‘engagement’ videos which will be hosted on their BSL Information Hub and disseminated via social media and at in-person events.
STAG will work with the Traveller community in and outside of Southwark to raise awareness about the new photo Voter ID requirements, support them to get the correct ID documents, encourage them to register to vote and discuss with them the civic and democratic processes. Activities will include face-to-face workshops, one-to-one support , the creation and promotion of leaflets to hand out at local events. They will work in partnership with other London Gypsy, Roma and Traveller organisations to share resources and conduct outreach in other sites across London, as well as running a social media campaign with pan-London reach among GRT communities.
Voice4Change England will work with their 19 member organisations in London, with an emphasis on members from the Black and minoritised ethnic community groups. Activity will include online and face-to-face workshops, information stalls at community fairs, the creation and promotion of information materials online and offline and raising awareness through specialist community media outlets to reach some of the most under-represented and under-registered Londoners. They will also run workshops for frontline community organisations to build civic and democratic participation in their outreach work.