The evidence is clear that Black-led organisations really struggle to get funding.
It’s generally unintentional, but the criteria is often designed in a way that makes it impossible for small, local organisations that are doing vital work on the ground to get the money they need.
Often funders will say that you can only apply for the funding equivalent to 10% of your annual turnover. They say it’s because they need to safeguard the funding and they don’t want to give any organisation more money than they know how to handle, but the impact of that is you’re effectively saying to Black social enterprises and organisations working in sport ‘you need to remain small’.
It means that large charities and social enterprises who turn over £3 million a year can access huge amounts of cash by filling in a form and by saying they work with BAME youth.
An organisation that really works in those communities but has small turnover is left fighting for scraps. They can never get the funding that allows them to put the infrastructure in place to transform lives in the way they could.
That’s why it’s important you shouldn’t judge an organisation by their ability to tick boxes or fill in forms.
The best people to work with Black people are those who understand their situation best, and that’s often Black-led organisations.
We must help these organisations build their capacity so they can grow and develop their work.