Poverty and Inclusion

Poverty & Inclusion

The Poverty and Inclusion programme aims to find solutions to poverty, inequality and social exclusion. By funding policy and research and grassroots projects, we aim to find ways in which people and communities can overcome barriers to financial and social inclusion and help them identify how they can contribute to developing solutions to the problems they face.

The Trust’s current work under this programme includes:

• Our “Small Change” initiative, which provides grants of up to £3,000, to catalyse mutual aid initiatives in Birmingham and the Black Country.  This funding stream is targeted at local community organisations, networks and partnerships that are looking for small amounts of funding to kick-start initiatives that will help local people help each other.

• Grassroots projects grants to local community organisations in Birmingham and the Black Country (Wolverhampton, Dudley, West Bromwich, Walsall, Smethwick and Sandwell) to strengthen communities so that they can and better cope with the changes they face. We are particularly interested in building a body of evidence, through research work and grassroots grants, to show how new technology, community organising, community activism or other techniques can be used to strengthen communities in Birmingham and the Black Country and help them tackle local problems.

• Policy and research projects to explore how the UK’s economic and financial systems could be changed to benefit poorer communities, increase financial inclusion and deliver social as well as economic outcomes.

To find out more about funding for poverty and inclusion policy and research or grassroots projects, please click on the buttons below.