[WiLT] Barrow Cadbury New Grant 'Habits of Solidarity' to foster greater cohesion apply by 18th July

[WiL Admin]

Barrow Cadbury Trust announces new £750,000 funding initiative:
'Habits of Solidarity' (10/06/08)

The Barrow Cadbury Trust has launched a new funding stream aimed at
fostering greater cohesion in some of Britain's most diverse towns and
cities.

The trust will fund voluntary and community projects with grants
typically worth £30,000.

The new funding stream builds on the trust's existing work promoting
'Habits of Solidarity' between people of different ethnic, religious
and cultural backgrounds.

Projects that promote 'Habits of Solidarity' encourage people from
different backgrounds to work together in order to tackle mutual
problems.

In the trust's experience, uniting diverse groups of people around a
common cause is an excellent way to foster solidarity and
understanding between Britain's increasingly diverse populace.

The Ashiana Community Project in Birmingham is an example of a
community group helping to foster 'habits of solidarity'.

Ashiana uses local "community mentors" to encourage marginalised local
women to participate in health, education and confidence-building
programmes.

Women from different communities forge close bonds as they overcome
their mutual concerns together. In doing so, this project not only
fosters cohesion but also helps address the poverty and inequality
that often lie at the heart of people's concerns.

Sukhvinder Kaur-Stubbs, Chief Executive of the Barrow Cadbury Trust
said:

"In an increasingly plural country, it wouldn't be healthy for
different communities to live 'parallel lives' - side by side but with
little interaction. However, many of the initiatives aimed at
fostering a diverse and cohesive society appear superficial - often
focused around culture and identity and 'what it means to be British.'
The Barrow Cadbury Trust's 'habits of solidarity' funding stream is
about supporting grass-roots projects that demonstrably bring
different people together to tackle local problems."

The funding initiative marks a significant step for The Barrow Cadbury
Trust; one of the UK's most dynamic funding agencies.

Kaur-Stubbs went on to say:

"Some of the poorest parts of Britain are also the most ethnically
diverse. As a charitable foundation, we need to help local communities
join forces to tackle poverty and inequality, rather than compete over
limited resources.

"We will target local groups that bring communities together around
common causes, in order to provide positive examples of what can be
achieved when people move beyond cultural, religious or ethnic
preconceptions."

Application criteria

1. We are looking for a small number of community based projects
(10-15) that will add value to our current work and generate ideas or
examples that can influence the national debate. For example:
. Ethnically and culturally diverse communities coming together to
tackle issues that are a priority for all local citizens, bringing
about positive change for the community as a whole rather than
particular sections of it.
. Projects that can show how our support can help them to breakdown
specific barriers that exist within their community.
. Projects that enable local people to coalesce around a shared idea
or activity.

2. The Barrow Cadbury Trust may contribute to work that is already
underway but will not fund work retrospectively or for costs that have
been incurred.

3. The Barrow Cadbury Trust is particularly interested in funding
projects that can show how solidarity can be built in diverse urban
centres in England, Wales and Scotland. We retain a strong focus on
Birmingham and the West Midlands but we may consider applications from
other areas or that can demonstrate national impact. We are unlikely
to fund projects based exclusively in London.

4. The average grant under this theme will be £30k over two years.

5. Funded projects will be required to attend a number of network
meetings with the Barrow Cadbury Trust through the course of their
project and will be expected to contribute to our policy and research
work where appropriate.

Process
i. The deadlines for proposals is 18th July 2008. You may submit your
proposal anytime before that date. Proposals received after that date
may be considered though grants would not be awarded until the
financial year 2009/10.
ii. Please send us a two page proposal with an outline budget. The
proposal should state:
. The city in England, Wales or Scotland where the work will take
place
. Some demographic data about the population and the number of people
living there.
. A summary of the work proposed
. Details about the organisation(s) that will carry out the work
iii. The Barrow Cadbury Trust will not respond to your proposal unless
we are interested in discussing it further with you. If you have not
heard from us within 3 months of sending your proposal this will
indicate it is not being taken forward to the next stage. We suggest
that you send your proposal in hard copy by registered post or with a
confirm response if sent by email.