New funding to support legal action to tackle racial injustice in the criminal justice system in the North of England – now closed

We are pleased to launch a new round of funding for organisations undertaking legal action to address racial injustice in the criminal justice system today.

The fund is open to anti-racist organisations based and serving communities in the North of England, which includes the North East, the North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber.

Grants of up to £50,000 over up to 18 months are available for work which engages with all aspects of the criminal justice system: policing, courts (including the Crown Prosecution Service), prisons, and the probation service. We will also consider applications which seek to address discrimination and disadvantage arising as a result of contact with the criminal justice system.

This funding will support all types of legal action, whether that action seeks to empower, persuade, challenge, or use a mix of all three. Examples of the type of work we anticipate funding under this call include (but are not limited to).

• Undertaking legal research to gather evidence relating to practices in the CJS;
• Challenging governmental policy decisions and practice through Judicial Review;
• Training for people impacted by the CJS on their rights; and
• Implementation activities for wins already achieved through legal action.

Funding is open to organisations that are already undertaking or can demonstrate pre-existing plans for taking legal action in this space.

Please see Application Guidelines for full eligibility requirements.

How to apply

Application Guidelines are available here.

There is a two-stage application process for this funding.

The first stage is a telephone call with us to discuss the suitability and eligibility of your work under this call. If you are interested, you should arrange a time to speak to us about your eligibility by Wednesday 13 April by emailing baring.foundation@ing.com.

After confirming your eligibility under this call, you will need to complete a grant application form. The application form is available here. The Application Guidelines provide guidance on what to include in your application.

The deadline for second stage written applications is 12 noon on Tuesday 25 April 2023.

Resources

Ahead of starting your application, you may wish to read the following supporting research:

• an overview of how UK civil society has used the law in pursuit of racial justice;
• a paper on the successful use of strategic litigation by the voluntary sector;
• an exploration of civil society organisations deploying a range of legal tools and tactics to achieve social change;
• a framework for effective use of the law by civil society organisations;
• a paper on the value of using legal based approaches (which informed the focus of our Strengthening Civil Society programme); and
• the Foundation’s most recent annual report.