10 | THE VOICE MAY 2023
News Feature
£1bn fund ‘to decolonise colonial grant-giving’
Group on a mission to boost under-resourced Black charity sector. By Shirin Aguiar
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B ILLION-POUND FUND created to supercharge Black grassroots groups to fight systemic racism has given out its first round of funding. The Black-led initiative comes after several reports found the Black and minority ethnic voluntary sector to be woefully underfunded. One report last year, by the group Ten Years Time, found almost nine out of 10 Black and Asian charities were facing closure. To fight this crisis, the Baobab Foundation was formed to channel cash from corporations to Black organisations so they can campaign against systemic racism. The head of the endowment fund, which aims to create a long-term sustainable source of funding, said the project heralded a new dawn for Black self-organisation. Founder Jake Ferguson said: “If you can make endowments big enough, the profits from endowments can be channelled back into annual grants programmes. “Back in 2020 we did a rough calculation; if we raised a billion pound endowment, it would make £50- to £60-odd million every year, notionally. So that was the spark.” The Baobab Foundation has now given £1.5 million in grants to 35 applicants from Black and Global Majority (BGM) communities. Voluntary sector experts say Black charities have been competing against each other for ever-smaller pots of money from a handful of grant-giving trusts and foundations, which are often tied to specific project funding rather than campaigning. And they are tired of waiting for grant-givers to deliver on promises of change to increase funding for this part of the charitable sector. As an endowment fund, Baobab seeks to create a long-term sustainable source of funding. Baobab say they resource communities based on their needs, priorities, realities and
experiences, not predetermined funding priorities of the grantgivers. Vanessa Thomas, a Baobab committee member, said: “We are providing long-term, unrestricted funding guidance and support, disrupting a sector that is bureaucratic and colonial, by being boldly pro-Black, centring disability justice and nurturing an ecosystem that builds systemic change.” Back in 2020, race equity organisations across the country including The Ubele Initiative, the Race Equality Foundation, BTEG and others all highlighted the Black voluntary sector as still being historically underfunded, under-resourced and under-valued.
REDUCTION
Covid brought the sector to its knees, with Ubele reporting that almost nine out of 10 Black voluntary sector organisations were facing closure. Even before Covid, an earlier report by Voice for Change England in 2015, found that BAME charities had suffered a 25 per cent reduction in funding in the previous five years when Government austerity was introduced. The charity umbrella body CEMVO reported an even more alarming 67 per cent dip in funding for Black groups. Although the Lottery Fund stepped in and provided a few million, in a subse-
BETTER TOGETHER: The Baobab Foundation’s name was inspired by gathering around the African tree, pictured inset, representing deep and meaningful conversations at the root (photos: senivpetro on Freepik, ACEI Cheung, Giya Makondo-Wills) quent report Ubele concluded that “racialised minority communities faced widespread financial crisis, with insufficient capacity to meet the need, while trying to influence policy and decision-makers.” Responding to the crisis, Baobab held its first open meeting in July 2020 involving 200 Black grassroots groups. Mr Ferguson, pictured left, linked up with David Weaver, chair of the Coalition of Race Equality, and they brought in Derek Bardowell, CEO of Ten Years’ Time, an expert in decolonising the philanthropic world. Mr Ferguson said: “Very early on we felt this has got to be something we own rather than is led by the powers-thatbe. That’s where the name Baobab came from. The African tree has historically represent-
ed something that is about gathering together at the root of the tree, having deep meaningful conversations about what our future is.” Fast forward to 2023 and the organisation now has 700 members who ‘own’ it. “One of the things which has made Baobab so strong is that from a very small seed of an idea we very much realised that it was our collective power that was going to make us unique. We want to self-organise in a way that we have control. “So I was very insistent that we would build up a membership and that it would be the members that would ultimately own Baobab and make the key decisions.” The foundation does not take government funds “because of the harm governments have done us”, and funders have to sign up to Baobab’s vision of self-organisation and justice.
It is “nowhere near” the £1 billion target yet, but is starting to build a significant endowment. Lankelly Chase were the first funders who agreed to give Baobab a proportion of their endowment. Mr Ferguson is looking for other foundations to do the same. “We’ve got a long, big mountain to climb to get anywhere near the billion pound target, but we are starting to show that through this racial justice approach we can get money to grassroots organisations up and down the country who are in dire need. “We can do it off our own back but still give the flexibility to those that apply to Baobab for funding, and the ability to self-determine. And that is the core of what we’re doing.” Yvonne Field, CEO of The Ubele Initiative, pictured inset above, said: “We totally
support the need for Baobab. I’ve always asked why we should only have two or three (funds). “We know that our sector’s been under-resourced for decades and that we don’t actually hold the power in decisionmaking and distribution of funding. We don’t get to design them, we don’t get to make decisions. We’re very rarely around the table, and if we are, we’re in a minority.
CHANGE
“I agree with Jake that this is the dawn of a hopefully long-term new era. We want long-term transformational change. “We need several funds so we can determine the future of our communities. Baobab is a great addition to the system. “Why should we not have those aspirations? We are huge contributors to the economy and we just don’t get value for money We’re determined to make sure this is a longterm change, so yes, £1 billion, £2 billion – why not?” Visit baobabfoundation.org.uk
