Our Northern Ireland programme is offering support and funding to their current grant-holders to strengthen their anti-racist work and engage more deeply with the growing racial justice movement.
This offer is being launched through a new anti-racist toolkit, created specifically for organisations already funded by JRCT’s Northern Ireland programme.
The toolkit contains a range of resources designed to help NI grantees reflect on, embed, and expand their commitment to racial justice. It also includes tailored offers to support connection and collaboration around anti-racism in Northern Ireland.
The initiative follows increasingly visible racist violence and intimidation in Northern Ireland, from the recent racist riots in Ballymena to the repeated arson attacks on Muslim faith and community venues in Belfast.
Despite the severity of these incidents, racist violence has often been overlooked in comparison to sectarian violence despite statistics showing that there is approximately a one in 31 chance of being the victim of a reported racial hate incident, compared to approximately a one in 1777 chance of being a victim of a reported sectarian hate incident.
In 2022, JRCT commissioned internal research into the specific characteristics of racism in Northern Ireland. Since then, the programme has:
- More than doubled its spending on explicitly anti-racist initiatives - Strengthened its policy language and funding processes to better reflect racial justice goals
The new anti-racist toolkit is both a practical resource and an invitation to JRCT grantees to take part in a broader conversation about how to coordinate more effectively and build lasting momentum for racial justice.
Tim Jones, who leads JRCT’s Northern Ireland programme, said: “History shows us that progressive social change is achieved by diverse, well-connected networks of groups and individuals, operating co-ordinated campaigns in which clear objectives are prioritised.
“The demonstrations organised in Belfast in response to the racist riots of 2024 and 2025 show that there is an strong social movement for racial justice in Northern Ireland that is bigger and stronger than what it opposes. In JRCT’s Northern Ireland committee, we’ve been asking what more we can do to help to harness this energy, and see it achieve its significant potential.”
Organisations funded by JRCT’s Northern Ireland programme who are interested in collaborating or learning more about who’s active in this space are encouraged to contact the programme team. We’re happy to share an up-to-date list of fellow grantees and help spark new conversations.
Through the NI programme, JRCT currently funds 42 organisations whose work to promote peace, equality, inclusion and human rights helps contribute to the ongoing transformation of the Northern Ireland conflict.
While this initiative is for existing grant holders, JRCT’s Northern Ireland programme continues to welcome new applications from organisations working on peacebuilding, human rights, systemic change — and increasingly, racial justice. You can read more about the programme here and see funding deadlines here.
In total we currently fund more than 300 people and organisations doing charitable work to address the root causes of conflict and injustice.