JRCT announces funding in response to the dual harms of the Covid-19 pandemic and systemic racism

The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) has announced a new phase of support for organisations in the light of the Covid-19 crisis – funding which specifically responds to the dual harms of the pandemic and systemic racism.

People from ethnic minorities have been disproportionately impacted by coronavirus because of inequality and discrimination. 

At this time of crisis, we want to support work that responds to the dual harms of the Covid-19 pandemic and systemic racism, in addition to our ongoing grant-making. Specifically, we wish to encourage work that scrutinises the responses and policies of powerful institutions and actors, and which envisions and builds support for transformative social change based on justice, peace and sustainability.

We have amended the funding policies for our five programmes - Rights and Justice, Sustainable Future, Peace and Security, Power and Accountability and Northern Ireland – to include this priority.

Please click here to see the full details of our funding priorities.

Our latest grant round closes on 22 March – please see details of when and how to apply here.

You will also be able to apply for funding to support work under these amended programme policies in our winter grant round.

Our other programmatic funding priorities remain the same.

This is JRCT’s latest phase of funding in response to the Covid-19 crisis. 

 

In March and April we took initial steps, which included:

  • Signing the London Funders’ statement, and making clear our aim of being a responsive, supportive, flexible funder.
  • We made emergency grants of £100k each to the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland and the Two Ridings Foundation in York – two exceptional organisations working to support those at the coalface in the specific communities with whom the Trust is most connected.
  • We created a Covid-19 organisational support fund for existing grantees with smaller incomes, to assist with immediate costs of adapting to remote working. We made grants to 41 grantees totalling almost £38,000.
  • Trustees agreed to increase our grant spending by at least £5 million to enable the expansion of our grant-making for the rest of this year.

Since May, we have offered support including:

  • Emergency grants to help stabilise current grantees facing an immediate financial crisis precipitated by Covid-19.
  • Discretionary increases to existing grantees which have so far totalled about £600,000.
  • 12-month grant extensions to current grantees with ongoing projects, whose final grant payment from JRCT fell between April 2020 and April 2021, with the purpose of sustaining organisations through additional financial security.

For further information, please look at our website or email enquiries@jrct.org.uk