Comic Relief accepting Proposals for Supporting & Sustaining Specialism Programme

Deadline: 5-Mar-21

Comic Relief is pleased to be continuing partnership with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to open a fund of £1.2 million to support organisations in England led ‘by and for’ Black and minoritised women providing frontline services responding to violence against women and girls. The fund has been made available through a grant from the Tampon Tax Fund.

The Comic Relief believes women and girls should have equal power and agency in decision-making at all levels. One of the ways in which have been working towards this vision since we began is through funding organisations working to end gender-based violence.

The programme wants to make targeted investments in women’s organisations in England led ‘by and for’ Black and minoritised women, providing frontline services to respond to Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG).

Programme Aims

Proposals should respond to one or both of this programme’s aims:

Improve access to quality services and support for Black and minoritised women and girls who are experiencing, or at risk of, violence and abuse.
Improve understanding of the needs of and effective responses to violence and abuse against Black and minoritised women and girls.

Priority Groups

The programme is aware that there are gaps in funding to support:

Women seeking asylum
Migrant women
Women with no recourse to public funds
Disabled women[6]
Young women
Older women

Funding Information

The programme expects to make up to approximately 15 investments of £30,000 to £250,000 in frontline service provision.
Funding can be used to cover specific project activities and core costs that can be evidenced as directly related to the proposed project.
Activities that respond to organisational sustainability are encouraged: up to 25% of investments under £100,000 and 10% of investments over £100,000 can be proposed for this purpose.
Funded projects will need to start-up in July 2021 and run between 12-15 months. Final reports must be submitted to Comic Relief no later than October 2022.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible Country: England
Eligible Applicants: Income of between £75,000 and £10 million
Type of Organisation:
- Charities:
  - Comic Relief predominantly funds registered charities. It asks for evidence of registration during the application process.
  - Comic Relief will always prioritise applications from organisations that are registered in the country where the work will take place. Applicants are welcome to include partner organisations not registered in the country, but must be able to clearly demonstrate the added value of all partner organisations included in the proposal.
- Other types of organisations:
  - Comic Relief does also fund other types of organisations. In these instances, the governing documents of the organisation must clearly outline the organisation’s social purpose, demonstrate that any profit or assets are used for this social purpose, and show that an asset lock is in place. Comic Relief will ask for a copy of applicant governing documents as part of their application.
  - Organisations applying to work in India must be Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registered approval before they apply, as well as any partner organisations they expect to work with.
- Private providers:
  - Where proposals include the engagement of private providers (e.g. as service providers or consultants) as part of a project to deliver specific objectives, applicant must demonstrate the use of a private provider is ultimately resulting in public good, rather than solely private profit for those private providers.