Agenda item

Report of the Managing Director of BHE

The Committee considered a report of the Managing Director of BHE requesting funding from CBT of £1.219m; comprised of £499,999 to Rosa towards administration costs and onward grant-making to BME women-led charities benefitting Londoners, and £720,000 towards the Greater London Authority (GLA) for administration and onward grant-making to grass-roots charities led by and for their communities benefiting Londoners. The report also recommended that the committee earmarks up to £15m of further funding towards other similar collaborations with established funders before the end of March 2023, piloting an “Alliance Fund”.

The Managing Director of BHE introduced and presented the application, and in response to questions from Members gave the Committee some further context on the recommendation to allocate, in principle, further funding for other such ‘Alliance Fund’ initiatives. The Committee noted that there would not be a specific commitment to spend at this time, with the allocation to be made up of smaller spending decisions at a later point.

The Deputy Chair commented that the collaboration and partnership elements of the initiative should be promoted further, and the Managing Director of BHE confirmed that both funders were keen to work collaboratively. A Member added that it would be important to consider what was meant by collaboration in this context, in comparison to projects such as LocalMotion, and the desired outcomes as CBT moved into this space.

RESOLVED – That the Grants Committee of the BHE Board agree:

a)    A grant of £499,999 be made to ROSA, registered charity no: 1124856, for the RISE fund, providing grants to strengthen Black and minoritised-led organisations in the women and girls sector. The funding can only be used to support organisations benefitting Londoners and includes £90,000 towards administration costs. A payment schedule will be drawn up, allowing the funds to be paid to Rosa in instalments, allowing payments to be received prior to onward grants being committed/paid;

b)    In principle, subject to the approval of the Bridge House Estates Board, a separate grant of £720,000 shall be made to the Greater London Authority (GLA, devolved regional governance body of the London region) for the Civil Society Roots 3 programme, with up to £120,000 to be spent on administration costs including the salary of a coordinator (the job description of the coordinator to be provided as a condition of the grant). A payment schedule will be drawn up, allowing the funds to be paid to the GLA in instalments, allowing payments to be received prior to onward grants being committed/paid; and

c)    Agree to allocate up to £15m, in principle, and subject to the usual assessment (including financial assessment) and delegated authority protocols, of further funding towards other such “Alliance Fund” initiatives which meet the criteria set out in this report.