National partnership brings key recommendations for improving support for Black and minoritised women-led organisations
We are pleased to have been one of the 10 funded partners participating in Comic Relief’s Supporting and Sustaining Specialism Programme funded by the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). This was a one-off ring-fenced programme for Black and minoritised women-led by and for specialists with a combined track record of 500 years, responsible for delivering innovative, evidenced, and unique pathways of support.
The Supporting and Sustaining Specialism Programme ran for 12-15 months and supported over 3,500 black and minoritised women and girls across England with specialist interventions. The programme centred its design on a community-led and driven approach:
- Ring-fenced funding gave Black and minoritised women-led by and for organisations a unique opportunity to bid on their own terms without the inherent structural disadvantages they face when forced to compete with better-funded generic VAWG providers and their mainstream offer.
- The expertise of external Black and minoritised women-led by and for sector leaders brought expertise, rigour and an intersectional lens.
- The programme led by a Portfolio Manager who herself is a Black and minoritised woman with a background in by and for work created a relational funding approach welcomed by funded partners.
Imkaan have recently released the evaluation report of the programme, which we will link to once available, however, we are pleased to be able to share some of the key recommendations form the report, which focuses on improving the funding system for Black and minortised women-led by and for organisations.
- Funding models destabilise the sustainability of the by and for sector.
- Short-term funding and lack an intersectional / trauma-informed funding approach severely limits effective support pathways for women affected by violence against women and girls (VAWG).
- Black and minoritised women/girls need VAWG support to be non-linear, available flexibly, over time at the point of need, and at a pace in which women build trust in the service.
- Funders need to reflect their organisational culture to build equity and anti-racist practice.
- Funders need to value the role of Black and minoritised women-led by and for sector as key collaborators in intersectional social change, justice and advancing Black and minoritised women/girls’ human rights.