Hong Kong Community Fund
The Hong Kong Community Fund aims to support Hongkongers, to make them feel welcomed and build a sense of belonging in their new communities.
The applications for the grant funding are now CLOSED.
The Greater London Authority (GLA) is happy to launch the Hong Kong Community Fund this year, following from the success of the Welcoming Hongkongers Fund. The fund aims to support Hongkongers, to make them feel welcomed and build a sense of belonging in their new communities in London.
With the second-year funding, the fund aims to expand our support to organisations in pursuit of creating a positive impact on the lives of many Hong Kong British National Overseas (BN(O)) status holders in London.
Who can apply?
The Hong Kong Community Fund is targeted at non-established, newly established, or smaller grass root groups or organisations run by and/or for Hongkongers and their partners.
Proposals are welcome from both Hong Kong-led organisations that draw on their experience and knowledge of Hongkongers’ needs, as well as organisations that have great experience working on a particular intersectional need and/or are interested in further developing their work to involve and engage with Hongkongers in London.
What support is available?
We expect to fund approximately 10 development grants and 10 impact grants. The overall grant allocation will be flexible to meet the different needs of the programme.
There are two types of grants available:
- Development grants of between £1,000 and £10,000
- Impact grants of between £10,001 and £20,000 (open only to constituted groups)
What activities can be funded?
We are seeking to fund projects that:
- Promote a sense of welcome for both existing and newly arrived Hongkongers in London: to meet the evolved needs of those Hongkongers who arrived previously, to welcome newly arrived Hongkongers, and build belonging
- Support Hongkongers with intersectional needs: (including but not limited to) Children and young Hongkongers, old Hongkongers, LGBTQI+ Hongkongers community, and Hongkongers with disabilities
- Champion Hong Kong cultures, identities, and heritage: a celebration of Hongkongers’ language and cultural identity is fostered
- Promote connection amongst Hongkongers’ and their wider communities: improving access to mainstream services and connections between Hong Kong-led groups and wider voluntary and community services to facilitate cultural exchange
- Support the well-being needs of Hongkongers: including buddy schemes, mindfulness activities and spaces for Hongkongers to feel safe and nurtured supporting Hongkongers’ mental health including through the development of trauma-informed and culturally specific resources and services
- Enable Hongkongers to access and thrive in employment, skills and training: including support to access to further and higher education, English language (ESOL), employment support, and information on starting a business. *If your proposed project includes English language development, please include information in your application on how learners will be offered progression routes to mainstream adult education and training at the end of their course.
- Grow the capacity of Hong Kong led civil society: costs incurred to become constituted, undertake DBS checks, training, qualifications, back-office costs and expenses incurred by volunteers
- Increase Hongkongers’ confidence to navigate their new communities/ environment: to organise English conversation clubs, to support Hongkongers accessing services, and understanding rights and entitlements
- Promotes non-party political civic and democratic participation: to raise voter registration awareness raising and activity, to platform youth voices, and to organise events that facilitate awareness-raising of civic and democratic rights, political literacy, media literacy, and other relevant, strictly impartial activities around democratic and civic participation
How to apply
Each grant application has two levels of assessment. These are proportionate to the level of grant:
Development grant (between £1,000-£10,000)
Provisionally approved grant applicants will have a scheduled follow-up call with a Grants Officer to gain more insight about the project and whether it meets our eligibility requirements and criteria. The call will last approximately 30 minutes
Impact grant (between £10,001 – £20,000)
Provisionally approved grant applicants will have a scheduled follow-up call with a Grants Officer to gain more insight about the project and whether it meets our eligibility requirements and criteria. The call will last approximately 30 – 45 minutes
*Please note all applications should be completed in English.
Application Support
To apply for this grant funding please complete and return the application form by 27th March 2023 (9 am).
We are holding an information session for the Hong Kong Community Fund, details are as follows:
Date: Thursday 16th March 2023
Time: 12noon-1:30pm
Venue: Virtually on Microsoft Teams
The following topics will be covered in the information session:
- Details and eligibility of the Hong Kong Community Fund
- Application process
- Key programme dates of the Hong Kong Community Fund
- Examples of work from last year’s GLA funding programme, Welcoming Hongkongers Fund
These sections will be recorded. The recording will be published here in due course.
There will also be time for questions at the end of the meeting – this section will not be recorded.
If you are not familiar with using Microsoft Teams, click https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/get-started-with-teams-quick-start for more guidance.
If you experience any problems accessing the information session on the day, please contact via email HKCommunityFund@groundwork.org.uk or call 0207 239 1292.
Timelines
| Activity | Timeline |
| Applications open | 22nd February 2023 |
| Information session about the Hong Kong Community Fund | 16th March 2023 (12noon-1:30pm) |
| Applications close | 27th March 2023 (9am) |
| Application outcome announced | 21st April-28th April 2023 |
| Induction session for in-principle grantees | 15th May 2023 |
| Project delivery begins | Beginning of June 2023 |
| Submission of mid-project report | October 2023 |
| Project delivery ends | Beginning of December 2023 |
| Submission of the final monitoring report | Mid-December 2023 |
Resources
Please use the documents below to support your application.
Programme Prospectus in Traditional Chinese
Programme Prospectus in Easy read
Case Studies
HearthTalk UK
Funded by the GLA’s Welcoming Hongkongers fund, HearthTalk UK delivered webinars and workshops in Cantonese on various mental health topics across a six-month period. They also offer short-term counselling support and signposting service, aiming to connect with the Hong Kong community in London and facilitate connections between newly arrived Hongkongers and their wider community in London.
St-Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields Trust, one of the grantees of the Welcoming Hongkongers Fund, delivered a project named Food for Our New Home, aiming to welcome Hongkongers in London and enable them to build new lives in the UK. They provided a weekly meal and foodbank for the Hong Kong community, which encouraged community, friendship and solidarity.
COMPASS (in partnership with Groundwork London and Counterpoints Arts)
Funded by the Mayor’s ESOL Plus Arts Programme. This project included weekly conversational English sessions across London, interweaving language learning with art sessions facilitated by a professional artist. Learning was facilitated by bringing English learners together with English speakers and engaging them in practical art projects that tested and expanded their English proficiency. The project integrated participatory ESOL at its core by choosing an art form based on participants’ interests and promoting the sharing of existing skills. Find toolkits for integrating ESOL with arts, culture and heritage on the ESOL Plus Arts Hub.
Contact
If you need support or have any questions about applying or the fund, please get in touch with Rachil Kotidi at HKcommunityfund@groundwork.org.uk or call 0207 239 1292.
