Introducing the Advancing Racial Justice Fund

We're excited to launch the Advancing Racial Justice (ARJ) Fund, a new fund focused on supporting Black and People of Colour (BPoC) led organisations in Scotland that are working to tackle to the root causes of racism. 

Communities impacted by racism hold vital knowledge, experience and leadership and their voices must shape and drive efforts to advance racial justice, while recognising that the responsibility for change lies with institutions and systems.

At its heart, this fund is about backing the people and groups who are already leading change in their communities and doing so in a way that aims to be more supportive, flexible and longer-term.

Key details include:

• Who it’s for: BPoC led community groups, charities and Community Interest Companies (CICs) with an asset lock in Scotland (with at least 50% representation across staff, leadership and board), with an income of £200,000 or less.
• Funding available:
  - £10,000 to progress your idea through an early development stage.
  - Followed by £10,000–£40,000 per year for up to three years.
• What it supports: Community-led work that tackles systemic racism. We are especially interested in how racial injustice amplifies the harms of poverty and trauma.
  
  

What we’ve heard

Over the past few years, we have worked in partnership with a group of BPoC community leaders to explore what meaningful racial justice funding could look like in practice. 

Through ongoing conversations, challenge, reflection and shared learning, we have shaped the Advancing Racial Justice Fund together.

Together, we kept coming back to a few key questions:

• How can resources, decision making and influence be shifted towards BPoC communities who are already driving change?
• What would it look like to invest in work that challenges the systems, institutions and power structures that reproduce racial inequality, rather than only responding to the harm they cause?
• How do we do this in a way that builds trust, shares power, and resources community expertise?

These conversations and relationships have directly shaped the development of the ARJ Fund.

Through this process, we have heard clearly about the realities many organisations face: being underfunded, overworked, and often expected to focus on immediate needs, with little time or resource to reflect, strategise and challenge the systems driving inequality.

We learned that many BPoC-led organisations are operating at a small scale, not because of a lack of ambition, impact or community support. While many grassroots and smaller organisations face challenges accessing funding and support, BPoC-led organisations often encounter additional barriers rooted in systemic racism.  These barriers can affect access to funding, networks, decision makers and opportunities, compounding the challenges already faced by smaller organisations. Too often, organisations closest to communities experience greater scrutiny and fewer opportunities to access the longer-term, flexible funding needed to grow, thrive and lead change.

As a result, this fund is one way we are beginning to shift power and resources by:

• directing resources towards small BPoC-led organisations
• creating space for reflection, strategy,  long-term thinking and the opportunity to test and learn
• supporting community leadership, collective action and movement building
• sharing decision making through community-led funding processes
• learning what it takes to fund racial justice work in ways that are more equitable and accountable

Focusing on systems change

At its core, the ARJ Fund is about supporting anti-racist systems change.

That means work which goes beyond addressing immediate needs and instead looks at how to challenge or transform the systems that create and maintain racial inequality, whether that is in housing, education, health, work, or elsewhere.

We also recognise that systemic racism does not exist in isolation. It intersects with other forms of inequality, including those linked to poverty, gender, disability, sexuality and migration status. Supporting work that reflects these overlapping experiences will be an important part of the fund.

Through our co-production process, people shared a range of perspectives on what anti-racist systems change could look like in practice. While we know that there is no single route to change, and that communities themselves hold the expertise about what change is needed, some common priorities emerged through these discussions. 

These examples are intended as a guide rather than a definitive list:

• Holding systems to account – through, for example, campaigns or advocacy
• Building alternatives – creating community-led solutions, models or infrastructures
• Strengthening movements and collective power – through organising, collaboration and shared spaces
  
  

A different way of working

A key part of this fund is creating the time and space to develop ideas.

We know that strong, thoughtful systems change work doesn’t happen overnight and that many organisations don’t have the capacity to develop detailed plans upfront.

That’s why the fund includes a dedicated development phase, where groups can shape their ideas, connect with others, and build their approach before moving into delivery.

The fund does not require a fully finalised project plan at the application stage. Instead, applicants need to outline a systemic issue they seek to address and describe how they would use a structured development phase to create a plan for taking action.

Another key feature of the Fund is the involvement of community members as advisors through a Leadership Group and a Decision-Making Panel. Both groups will play a central role in guiding the ARJ Fund, helping to ensure that its delivery is shaped by the lived experiences, priorities and leadership of BPoC communities across Scotland.

What’s next?

The Advancing Racial Justice Fund is now open for applications and will close on the 14th October 2026.

You can read our full guidance and apply here.

This open call will operate within a fixed budget, with a minimum of £1M available. 

This fund has been shaped through the time, insight and expertise of a co-design group of 10 BPoC community leaders and organisations, who worked with us for one year. We are grateful for their openness, challenge and collaboration in helping to develop this approach.