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Strengthening Civil Society Programme in the United Kingdom

Deadline: 30-May-25

The Baring Foundation has launched the Civil Society Programme to support legal action that addresses racial injustice in the criminal justice system.

The Strengthening Civil Society (SCS) programme supports the effective use of the law and human rights-based approaches by civil society in the UK.

This programme aims to boost engagement and support organisations within the sector to make better use of the law and human rights in their work.

Focus
  • The primary focus is on social change activities that tackle discrimination and disadvantage. By social change they mean:
    • changes in policy, regulation and law;
    • changes in behaviour, attitudes, and norms; and
    • new ways of designing and delivering services or support for individuals
Programme Information
  • In this funding call, they have narrowed the focus within the criminal legal system (CLS) to support work which uses the law to:
    • clarify or challenge legislation which disproportionately criminalises racialised people;
    • address any racial injustice/s caused by police in schools; and
    • address the clampdown on activism in relation to issues of racial injustice (addressing the criminalisation of free speech and protest).
Funding Information
  • The budget for this fund is £750,000. They will largely award grants of up to £50,000 for up to 18 months.
  • However, they will consider applications for grants of up to £90,000 over three years for projects which require a longer development phase.
Eligibility Criteria
  • They will fund organisations based anywhere in the UK.
  • However, if an organisation is registered and largely based in one part of the country but is seeking to make change in another part (for example a London-based civil society organisation working in a city like Manchester), they will need to evidence how they are working with organisations in those places.
  • Organisations able to demonstrate pre-existing plans for taking legal action in this space are also eligible to apply.
  • To be eligible to apply to this fund, applicants need to:
    • Be an anti-racist organisation or have a demonstrable history of working on anti-racism;
    • Already be undertaking legal action activities to address racial injustice in the CLS or be able to demonstrate pre-existing plans for doing so;
    • Be planning to undertake activities under the grant which delivers benefit in the UK (applications for international work will not be considered);
    • Be a legally registered not-for-profit entity in the UK, preferably a charity;
    • Have at least one full year’s accounts; and
    • Have an income of under £1m a year.

For more information, visit The Baring Foundation.