This month marks Black History Month 2021 and the Foundation wants to take the opportunity to reach more Black-led community groups, to continue and strengthen its support to Black communities across the region.
The Foundation aims to create equal opportunities for all community groups, ensuring it’s grant-making is diverse and reflective of the region it serves in the West Midlands and Warwickshire. By no means are we where we want to be just yet, we are taking the necessary steps to embed diversity, inclusion, equity, equal access and opportunity within the Foundation and amongst the communities we serve. This month we are taking the opportunity to encourage more Black-led organisations to apply to the Foundation, you can find our available grants here.
Working collaboratively with our board and staff team we have refreshed our vision, values and mission to ensure they reflect the ethos and values we hold strong and have set our 3-year strategy with a clear direction of travel. We aim to have a board and staff team that reflect the wonderful diversity of our region, we will become more data driven which will enable us to analyse our grant making and set priorities to ensure we are fair and equitable in our support to communities.
2021 saw the launch of the Black Artists Fund, in partnership with Coventry City of Culture Trust, to take immediate action to dismantle the systems that have kept Black artists and creatives from achieving their potential in the arts and cultural industries. Read more about the grantees here.
We want to encourage more Black-led organisations to apply to the Foundation, you can find our available grants here. For any support with your application or advice please don’t hesitate to contact our team at info@heartofenglandcf.co.uk.
“I want to give back. I want to diversify the people that the Foundation support and the people they engage with. I believe the Foundation can help me do that right across the West Midlands, especially within the areas that need it most.”
For Black History Month 2021 the Foundation wants to highlight the fantastic groups it supports across the region:
📍 Birmingham
Micro Rainbow CIC, an organisation that aid Black LGBTI refugees and asylum seekers through social inclusion, employability, and homelessness, received a £3,000 grant from the Foundation to support their safehouses for vulnerable residents over the pandemic.
📍 Coventry
Steppers UK CIC delivers services promoting and pushing for stronger diversity, access and representation within the outdoors. The £10,000 grant, awarded through the Black Artists Fund, in partnership with Coventry City of Culture Trust, is supporting their ‘Beyond The City’ project which engages Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities by exploring and documenting green spaces within Coventry!
📍 Solihull
Entraide, a charity set up in 2010 by Felix Kupay, aims to respond to the growing refugee and asylum-seeking needs in Solihull and the West Midlands. Felix came to the UK in 2004, having left the Congo due to political unrest. The Foundation has supported Entraide multiple times, especially during the last 18 months to support those hit hardest by the pandemic.
📍 The Black Country
Sandwell African Women Association (SAWA) provide community support services to disadvantaged African women living in the Black Country. The Foundation has awarded SAWA a total of £21,710 in grant funding, and most recently supported their emergency response during the COVID-19 pandemic.