GLA Democratic Participation Grants

About the programme

The Greater London Authority (GLA) is running phase three of its Democratic Participation Grants Programme, as part of its Civic and Democratic Participation Programme.

The grant programme funds civil society equity-led groups to deliver targeted awareness-raising information and activity, including 1:1 support, in trusted community settings for London’s most under-registered and under-represented communities at risk of disenfranchisement.

GLA analysis has highlighted the following priority groups:

• Young Londoners (16–25-year-olds)
• Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Londoners
• Migrant Londoners, including EU and Commonwealth Londoners
• Deaf and disabled Londoners
• Older Londoners
• LGBTQIA+ Londoners, with a focus on trans and non-binary Londoners
• Low-income Londoners
• Londoners in precarious housing situations or homeless, and social and private renting Londoners

By equity-led, we mean at least 50% of an organisation’s management (trustees and senior management) and staff identify with one or more of those identities and have experience of the civic and democratic barriers they are trying to address.

What type of projects will be supported?

Projects will have a focus on supporting Londoners to navigate the democratic system in the post elections landscape and supporting Londoners in understanding how to get heard and participate at every level in civic and democratic life. They will support Londoners to access their civic and democratic rights both through engaging in the electoral system, (e.g. registering to vote and applying for Voter ID) and beyond the ballot box (e.g. by participating in local level decision-making, community organising and taking part in wider civic life).  Projects will also build capacity more broadly by training civil society organisations to deliver this kind of support to Londoners, as well as working in partnership and facilitating learning between organisations.

The grant-funded activity must take place between September 2024 and end of June 2025.

Grantees must be able to demonstrate impartiality and are expected to run strictly non-party political community activity to enable targeted networks and individuals to exercise all their civic and democratic rights at every opportunity.

For more information about this, please refer to the programme prospectus below.

Aims of the programme

The aims of the Democratic Participation community grants programme – phase three are:

• Support Londoners and civil society to increase their political literacy, by equipping them with the knowledge and the tools they need to uphold their democratic rights.
• Support Londoners to access their democratic rights by addressing barriers to participation (voter registration, Voter ID, proxy and postal voting, etc.)
• Support Londoners to get heard on decisions impacting them and their communities, beyond elections, including through deliberative and participatory democracy at local level, and other mechanisms to participate in civic life. 
• Grow the number, capacity, and resilience of civil society organisations in the democracy/ social justice sector by ensuring civil and democratic participation is embedded in their business-as-usual activity and future work.

Who can Apply?

• Organisations will need to be a non-for-profit organisation (see full list in prospectus below)
• Organisations must be permanently based in London
• Organisations must have an impeccable non-party political reputation
• Organisations must be equity-led (see details above and in the prospectus below)
• There is a maximum of one project per applicant organisation

What Funding is available?

We have a grant pot of up to £250,000 to support civil society organisations deliver this work.

Organisations can apply for grants between £10,000 – £25,000

The grants will be paid in three instalments:

• 50% on signing the contract
• 25% following the first interim report (due mid-December 2024)
• 25% on sharing the final evaluation report and requested proof of expenditure (by mid-July 2025)

Resources

Please review the resources below to find out more information about the grant programme and to support you with your application.

How to Apply

Applications for GLA Democratic Participation Grants will close at 12 pm on Tuesday 6^th August 2024.

When you have read and understood the resources above, please apply below.

Application Guide

You will be asked to complete an eligibility questionnaire before being taken to the application portal, to ensure you and your project are eligible for funding. To apply, complete the application form and submit your application using the online portal.

As the grants come from public money, we need to carry out due diligence checks. These are standard tests to check that you are who you say you are, and that you have got all the relevant policies and insurance in place when you start your project. We will ask you to provide a series of documents with your application. Please read section 8 of the prospectus for more information.

Application Support

Groundwork is managing the administration of the grant programme and is on hand to support all applicants and grantees. Groundwork has a pot of up to £12,500, to provide accessibility support during the application process and beyond. This support will be provided on a case-by-case basis so we can offer tailored support.

If you have any questions or have additional needs and require support, please contact us via email at DemocracyGrants@groundwork.org.uk or call 0207239 1390.

We are holding an online application workshop to provide advice and support to all applicants. This is an opportunity to learn about the grant programme, what projects can be supported, who is eligible and to have your questions about the programme answered. If you would like to attend, please register using the links below:

Event: Application workshop
Date: Tuesday 16 July 2024
Time: 12:00 – 13:30

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Contact

If you need help or support accessing the application portal, completing the application form or need to access the application in a different format, please get in touch via email DemocracyGrants@groundwork.org.uk or phone 020 7239 1390, and a member of the team will be happy to help you.

If you would like to stay up to date with the GLA Democratic Participation Grants as well as our other grant schemes, sign up for our Groundwork Grants Updates mailing list here.

Groundwork is administering a number of grant schemes on behalf of the Greater London Authority (GLA) to help London become an even greater city in which to live and work.

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