Supporting black-led organisations in the charity sector
Supporting black-led organisations in the charity sector
Written by Anya Rudolphy, Head of Programme, Connect
Last year the Connect team, perhaps ahead a year on themes, shared stories from some of our community partners shining a light on women leading organisations creating meaningful impact across east London. We’d like to return to them this year with a reflection on why it’s important for ELBA and our partners to be thinking about how we support black-led organisations in east London.
During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic organisations saw an influx in grants and project funding for their organisations to respond to the crisis at hand. As we have moved away from a Covid-19 response and into a Cost of Living response, there has been no replacement of this funding to accommodate not only an increased need within the community, but also rising pressure and costs for community organisations to operate.
Research has shown that, while funders are taking steps to address systemic racial injustice within funding systems, there is still a long way to go(1). ELBA is currently supporting grassroots organisations within the My Ends project, with community grants in Hackney Wick addressing serious youth violence in the community, and we also have an ongoing pool of volunteers that support fundraising application reviews for community organisations. Meanwhile, we continue to consider how we ensure our work and opportunities are accessible to all community organisations across east London.
While there is more work to be down, for now, we’d like to re-share some stories of organisations making an impact, to take the opportunity to celebrate them this month.
BISOLA POPOOLA, FOUNDER, SAFE HOUSE LONDON
What do you do?
Safe House’s mission is to educate, entertain and elevate the hearts and minds of families, through multidimensional events, workshops and sessions. By cultivating safe and inspirational spaces, we are able to spotlight young people, particularly those who are marginalised and dealing with educational failure, family destruction, financial deficiency, mental health problems, unemployment or violence in London. Providing access and information, we are making a generational shift and investing in future leaders to prevent them becoming a product of their environment.
Why do you do it?
Utilising my experience within the creative industries as a communication specialist and an avid community leader, I broke out of my internal paradox of reality and a career that was lacking the authenticity I required for growth and development. I love helping people, it’s a big part of my purpose and Safe House allows me to exercise this, with a lot of hard work and grace.
JEORGINA SOARES, CEO, JDS STRIVING FOR EXCELLENCE
What do you do?
JDS Project is a solution-oriented community asset tackling young people’s core issues by providing training and creating online platforms to voice their issues. We aim to encourage youth from different backgrounds, faith, gender and predominantly from challenged communities to be active whilst enjoying a holistic programme of activities and reducing feelings of isolation and loneliness.
Why do you do it?
Being a single mother of four boys, and seeing the lack of opportunities and financial resources available to youths, it is my passion to provide a safe space and encourage youths to be more active, feel more engaged in their local community, meet other residents. This is what pushed me to start the work that I do for my community, seeing every young person striving for excellence.
VICTORIA IJEH, CEO, ICONIC STEPS
What do you do?
Iconic Steps is a creative agency with a social impact! Our mission is to produce with purpose and create a more diverse, more equal media industry.
Alongside being a Creative Agency, we also train and upskill young people (16-25) from diverse backgrounds to increase their opportunities in entering the media industry. We deliver a range of free, media-centred courses, led by experts in their field and support our young people into employment with work opportunities from our Media Partners – Disney, ITV, Warner Bros, and See Saw Films to name but a few.
As CEO I steer the ship ensuring we stay on track with the vision and mission of Iconic Steps, for a small company this means I wear many hats but the most important one is making sure our community of young people have a voice and agency to make change in Iconic Steps.
Why do you do it?
I founded Iconic Steps following my own experiences of trying to break into the media industry. As a young black female and an award-winning filmmaker I understand the struggles and my desire was to create a bridge into the industry.I also wanted to take a holistic approach to supporting young people to develop a growth mindset to succeed in all areas of their lives.
HAZEL DURRANT, HEAD OF OPERATIONS, UD MUSIC FOUNDATION
What do you do?
Over the last 20+ years, I have developed a successful career in business development for charities, not-for-profit organisations and social enterprises. My career has involved working with and raising funds for artists and creative practices and to develop large-scale and small-scale projects in partnership with the public and private sector.
In 2020, I started as Head of Operations for UD Music to prepare for the opening of its new £4M home. I support UD to bring about talent development for high potential underrepresented young people, mainly aged 14 to 25, interested in Black Music genres.
Why do you do it?
I have built a career in social action for the benefit of communities and people who face multiple barriers to positively changing their lives and the circumstances they find themselves in. Trying to ‘change the world’ is a vocation and I seek out organisations that share the same drive as I have.
For more than 20 years, I have been unwavering in my commitment to helping all, living within our city, to understand how art and creativity can be useful and powerful tools. I care deeply about empowering people, who are facing socioeconomic deprivation, with the tools to positively change their lives. Social drives me, feeds my soul and motivates me to keep going. Even when all the odds are against me and those I serve.
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