The Phoenix Way: Transforming Grant Funding for Black and Racially Minoritised Organisations
The Phoenix Way, led by The Ubele Initiative and supported by Global Fund for Children, is a grant-making initiative aimed at transforming Black and racially minoritised communities. It was established in partnership with six Regional Leads and with the support of several new UK funders, including The Youth Endowment Fund and the Lloyds Bank Foundation for England & Wales.
What is the Phoenix Way?
The Phoenix Way (TPW) is a national collaborative partnership created during the COVID-19 pandemic as a response to the structural inequalities which Black and racially minoritised communities and community-led organisations face in relation to influencing and accessing grant funding in the UK. Its principal aims are to:
- Transform the relationships between funders and Black and racially minoritised organisations
- Tackle systemic race inequalities
- Develop shared leadership, which actively invests in these communities and empowers them to make decisions about funding processes, priorities and allocations
“The Phoenix Way seeks to ensure that no community is left behind.”
The Phoenix Way will develop a pioneering model that can be replicated by others to ensure that communities facing poverty, exclusion and discrimination influence decisions that impact their lives. By putting communities in the lead, The Phoenix Way seeks to ensure that no community is left behind.
The Phoenix Way origins
The Phoenix Fund was launched in 2020 in order to put racial justice at the heart of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund was devised and led by Black and racially minoritised community group leaders from across England and established with the support of The National Lottery Community Fund and Global Fund for Children.
The fund was targeted at Black and racially minority-led community groups impacted by COVID-19. £2.4 million was distributed (£0.4 million in infrastructure support and £2 million in grants to 184 community groups) across all regions of England. Around 1400 applications were received, demonstrating the high demand for this targeted funding opportunity.
In response to this unmet demand, the Phoenix Way partnership was formed in 2021 by the community members who led the development of the Phoenix Fund as a way of building on this work and creating a process which would support systems change.
Aims of The Phoenix Way
The Phoenix Way exists to drive transformational change at regional and national levels by adopting a racial equity and social justice lens and creating learning which impacts the wider funding ecosystem and Black and racially minoritised communities and community organisations.
The wider aims of The Phoenix Way are to:
- Raise awareness of the unique challenges facing Black and racially minoritised communities across the UK
- Offer flexible grant funding to Black and racially minoritised grassroots groups across the UK and working in their communities by developing and delivering a number of collaborative grant funding rounds designed and led by Black and racially minoritised communities, over the next five years
- Strengthen regional Black and racially minoritised infrastructure support organisations by 2026
- Challenge the funding sector to review its grant-making processes and track record of providing funding for Black and racially minoritised communities and to become more transparent by sharing data on funding allocations
- Encourage and support funders to work within a restorative justice model by transforming their systems so they are more able to respond to structural inequalities and develop a shared leadership
- Actively empower Black and racially minoritised communities to collaborate with funders in decisions relating to funding processes, priorities and funding allocations
- Develop strategic and innovative solutions to address the needs faced by communities, and work with a range of stakeholders including national, regional and local government, voluntary, social enterprise and community sector leaders, corporations and community groups
- Commit to truly equitable grant giving across all strands of grants – from the smallest to the largest grants
In 2023, The Phoenix Way will launch and begin disseminating targeted funding to Black and racially minoritised community-led groups impacted by the cost-of-living crisis across England. The partners will establish a regional infrastructure support to deliver the Phoenix Way’s funding opportunities.
Funding opportunities
The Phoenix Fund: Children and Youth Emergency Round
This funding round is now closed and thank you to everyone who applied. If you would like to know more about the review process and why certain applications were unsuccessful, please click here.
Regional Infrastructure Grants
The Phoenix Way is also in the process of awarding Regional Infrastructure Grants to the following 6 English regions: North West, North-East and Cumbria, South West, The Midlands, Yorkshire and Humber, and London and South East.
The Phoenix Way’s future funding rounds, including multi-year funding, will open later in 2023 and will also include organisations and groups located in Wales.