Racial Justice grants policy

The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust seeks to promote racial justice and equality of opportunity as a basis for a harmonious multi-racial, multi-ethnic society in Britain. The Trust seeks to work towards this aim through all its grant making fields, but particularly through its racial justice programme.

The Racial Justice programme area works at three levels:

• Local - West Yorkshire 
• National – focusing on England, Wales, Scotland and the UK (work specific to Northern Ireland is funded through a separate programme)
• European

An important test of all applications to this programme area is whether they are promoting racial justice.  The Racial Justice programme recognises racial injustice focuses on racial justice in its broadest sense, including black and minority ethnic communities; migration including refugee and asylum; and Islamophobia.

JRCT is keen to encourage communication and co-operation between different racial groups.

The Trust welcomes applications from black and ethnic minority groups and from multi-racial groups working in these areas.  The Trust encourages and looks for involvement of black and ethnic minority people at all levels of the projects and organisations it supports.  Applications for work to tackle Islamophobia should describe where the work is positioned in the context of the UK's diverse Muslim communities, and explain how it will engage with and address the needs of young people and women.

In West Yorkshire, JRCT aims to promote the full participation of racially disadvantaged groups in community life.  This includes members of black and minority ethnic communities and newly arrived communities.  The Trust supports local projects working for equality, social justice and civil rights.  

At both national and European level, JRCT is keen to support organisations developing and disseminating policy proposals, and advocating policy improvements.  The emphasis is on organisations with good access to policy makers.  The Committee is also willing to make relatively small grants to some marginal and under-supported organisations doing campaign work.

At National level, JRCT supports projects working to:

• promote issues of racial justice with policy shapers, decision makers and opinion formers;
• encourage black and ethnic minority people/black-led organisations to contribute to policy development on the basis of their experience in meeting needs; and to participate at planning and decision making levels;
• monitor and challenge racism and racial injustice whether relating to colour or culture;
• tackle Islamophobia;
• promote rational and humane migration and asylum policies benefitting both migrant and settled communities; 
• explore and advocate ways to eliminate racial violence and harassment.

At European level, the Trust expects that work undertaken on an EU-wide basis will be funded from sources in several EU member states.  The priority is to fund work which has direct relevance to communities living in the UK, although the work may also impact on communities elsewhere in Europe.  JRCT supports projects working to:

• promote awareness amongst policy makers and within the European institutions of the need to protect the human rights of minority communities, asylum seekers and migrants;
• research and disseminate information concerning current EU policies and their impact on minority communities;
• provide a forum for NGOs from all EU countries to share experiences on matters relating to race and immigration and to build alliances on shared interests;
• work for a more accountable and open process for developing EU policy in relation to race and migration.

What we do not fund

In relation to the Racial Justice programme, JRCT does not make grants for:

• local projects, except in West Yorkshire;
• projects that provide services or training to members of BME communities, refugees or asylum seekers;
• academic research, except as an integral part of policy and campaigning work;
• work which we believe should be funded from statutory sources, or which has been in the recent past;
• work which tries to make a problem easier to live with, rather than getting to the root of it.

Please also note our general exclusions.