Windrush Justice Programme update – who we’re funding in round 3

William De Sousa

9 months ago

Action for Race Equality (ARE) is proud to reveal that we have funded another eight organisations following the third tender round of our Windrush Justice Programme. 

Estimated read time: 3 minutes

The programme, supported by a collective of funders, provides funding to advocacy groups across the country who support people applying to the Windrush Compensation scheme, including work to regulate their status before being able to access the fund.

The following groups are the latest to receive these grants and have now been awarded £22,000 each, with £16,500 being funded throughout the first half of the year, and the remaining 25% being paid 9 months later:

African Health Policy Network
Be Lifted Now
Croydon BME Forum
Make More Community CIC
Mojatu Foundation
Northampton Windrush Generation and Descendants UK & Friends -Northampton Windrush Advocacy Hub
Refugee and Migrant Forum of East London (RAMFEL)
Wellington Road Seniors Project

The money will enable them to:

Make their work more sustainable
Pay caseworkers to support those needing help
Cover admin costs
Support people impacted by the Scandal to demonstrate they are citizens by regulating their status
Support people impacted by the Scandal to access and complete the application for the Windrush Compensation Scheme
Signpost people impacted by the Scandal to other organisations offering support including signposting more complicated cases to solicitors (providing pro bono support)
Mobilise more case workers or volunteers to reach more people to support

This round builds on our commitment to fund community-led organisations delivering legal and practical support to Windrush-affected individuals and their families and strengthening grassroots advocacy.

Our first, closed round in 2023 invited 12 groups to be funded and supported by the Windrush Justice Programme, with our second round onboarding another eight organisations the following year.

Like the previous years, this year was no different. After completing a short eligibility check and Expression of Interest form (EOI), organisations had a virtual conversation with the ARE team instead of completing a traditional application form.

The ARE team shared all applications with an independent panel, chaired by Patrick Vernon, with the panel making the final decision on who to fund, an approach we initially co-designed with the Windrush grassroots sector. 

It is critical we encourage more people from the Windrush Generation to apply for compensation with the support of trusted organisations to access justice and deal with the onerous bureaucracy of the Home Office.”
Professor. Patrick Vernon OBE, Windrush Justice Programme advisor

Twenty previous organisations have already been funded on the Windrush Justice Programme, which launched in June 2022.

Who we previously funded:

The small grants of £22,000, enables Windrush Justice Programme groups to undertake a close relational approach that supports an individual with understanding and collating evidence, listening to their story, and fully supporting them to make a Windrush Compensation Scheme claim or Settlement Status application. ^[1]

[1] The fund cannot be used to fund lawyers; however, it can cover travel and subsistence for pro bono work lawyers . The Windrush Justice Programme also does not fund any organisations who only do awareness raising, without providing some level of advocacy support.