A PROJECT supported by the National Lottery Community Fund to help voluntary groups and charities from ethnically diverse communities in Dorset to become more resilient and self-sufficient is gathering pace.
It is being run by a partnership led by Community Action Network (CAN) with Dorset Race Equality Council, Dorset Community Foundation and BCP Council using a £500,000 grant over three years from The National Lottery Community Fund (NCLF).
The Ethnically Diverse Communities Project was inspired by the lottery seeing fewer, and less successful, funding applications from groups in ethnically diverse areas and aims to help them strengthen their set-ups and build their skills so that they become stronger and more sustainable.
EDC Project Manager Mayu Rouco‑Santos and two capacity building officers have identified around 50 groups and are working closely with 20 in Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole and farther afield from a wide range of communities including Afro-Caribbean, Eastern European, Middle Eastern and African.
She said the project, which began last April, started by asking groups to help shape the way it works to help overcome any wariness about taking part and to make it a true collaboration. “Because all of these communities have been involved in the development of the project, that is key to the trust,” she said.
The groups were invited to a meeting in June to talk about the challenges they face in applying for funding. “Some of them had applied and been successful, but not always, some had never been successful and some hadn’t even tried because they were very intimidated by the whole process,” said Mayu. “Also some were so new they weren’t aware of how to go about applying.”
She said a major obstacle for many of the groups is being able to open a bank account. “Banks are turning them away and they are just saying ‘sorry, we cannot work with community groups if you are not registered’,” she said.
“They are stopping them from actually applying for funding because without a proper bank account, you can’t.”
She said recruiting trustees and volunteers can also be a challenge, as can an unintentionally patronising attitude to ethnic communities from some organisations. “It can be a cultural barrier with language and it can make them frustrated and angry,” she said.
“Sometimes groups may feel at disadvantage because they are not white British, their names are not British-sounding, they are not English native speakers or they have difficulties understanding the questions.”
I love that it’s a collaborative project and the most rewarding thing is to see how communities that are starting from zero with us are flourishing and blooming so quickly
The project has launched a fund, run by Dorset Community Foundation using the lottery funding to award grants of up to £3,000 to help reinforce groups’ organisational structure, raise more money, promote their work and extend their reach. The fund is by invitation only for the groups involved in the project.
The EDC Fund for Strength and Sustainability can be used for a range of things to achieve this, including hiring consultants to advise on generating income or recruiting volunteers and trustees, training staff – in bid writing or bookkeeping for instance, building websites or investing in technology.
Ellie Maguire, Grants Manager at the community foundation, said the groups have been involved every step of the way, even helping design the way they apply for grants. “We want to make it as straightforward as possible while keeping the process open, transparent and fair,” she said
Mayu said she and the two capacity building officers, Catia Leite and Tama Merdaci, will work with groups on their grant applications. She said: “By the end of the project we want them to have the confidence and the expertise to apply for funding themselves.”
She said her background as a community engagement officer for BCP Council and Catia and Tama’s experience have made gaining the trust of the groups easier that it might have been. “I think we are quite lucky that the three of us come from different ethnic backgrounds.
“Tama is from the Muslim community and Catia is from Brazil. We have all been in this country for a while so we understand British culture but we also have empathy and solidarity with these communities and we understand that our cultures can be similar but different. We are able to identify both good aspects from both.”
Despite the team’s experience Mayu said she has been surprised and impressed by the voluntary work that goes in the communities. “There is a lot of experience and knowledge there already,” she said. “What they are doing amazing and they are very resilient because a lot of them struggled during Covid but they managed to stay afloat and get back on track.
“People in the communities know them and trust them because they do amazing work, like providing meals and organising activities.”
She and the team can already see the project’s progress after less than a year. “What I really like about it is that you can see very clearly the seeds blooming from what we are planting together.
“I love that it’s a collaborative project and the most rewarding thing is to see how communities that are starting from zero with us are flourishing and blooming so quickly. It’s like they don’t need us, but you can see how the support they are getting is helping them to believe more in themselves.”
Pictured centre top: EDC Project manager Mayu Rouco‑Santos, centre with Capacity Building Officers Catia Leite, left, and Tama Merdaci
