NSI Comic Relief Project

Next Step Initiative received the sum of £358,000 from Comic Relief, for onward distribution to minority communities across Scotland. Following consultation with leaders of minority communities, we identified key barriers to fundraising. These include irrelevant questions, long application forms, lack of human and financial resources, lack of documents and non-ownership of bank accounts with mainstream/high-street banks. Therefore, to address some of these barriers, we designed a simplified application form, whilst ensuring key questions were not compromised. Furthermore, we carried out due diligence. As an intermediary partner with local presence and knowledge, we are familiar with these organisations and it was easy to carry out all necessary due diligence, as well as evaluation of funded projects. In total 52 Ethnic Minority community organisations were funded across Scotland

To ensure, every organisation had a positive outcome (awards), we had a series of webinars, Q&As,  as well as one-to-one support for organisations that required this. All applications received before the deadline were assessed and presented to a 7-man panel, consisting of individuals with lived experience of the communities we support. Additionally, we had a representative of the Centre for African Research on Enterprise & Economic Development  (CAREED) professor John Struthers, as the chair of the panel. This is because he has extensive knowledge of these communities, having lived in Africa for several years. The decision making panel was well structured, impartial  with varied levels of expertise. The grant manager, Dr Thelma Okey-Adibe was the secretary to the panel, ensuring all feedback/comments were adequately captured. Generally, the grant making process was very insightful: