Advancing Racial Justice Application Form

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Section 1 - Eligibility

Guidance

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Before completing this form please make sure you have read our guidance.

If you have any communication support needs that make reading or completing an application form difficult or impossible, please get in touch with us at arj@therobertsontrust.org.uk or call us on 0141 353 4321 to discuss alternative ways you can apply.

This form works best when using Chrome or Microsoft Edge.  You may experience issues if you are trying to complete this form using a tablet or Apple Mac and we would advise using a computer/laptop where possible.  Please also see our Guide to Completing our Online Application Forms. 


Please Note
This fund is only open to organisations/groups working directly with Black and POC communities in Scotland.  If you are not directly working with these communities we cannot consider an application from you. 

Please Note
This fund is only open to Black and PoC led organisations and groups.  If less than half of your leadership, management and/or staff do not identify as Black or PoC we cannot consider an application from you.

This is normally based on the money your organisation/group received in the last financial year, as shown in your most recent annual accounts or financial statements. We understand, however, that organisation's income may fluctuate from year to year and we’ll therefore look at up to your last three years’ income.  If you are a new organisation, which has not yet produced accounts, we’ll look at the income you expect to receive in the year ahead. There are also some cases where we will make exceptions, for example, if your income was over £200K due to one-off funding for a capital project. If you are not sure whether you meet this criteria, please call us on on 0141 353 4321 to discuss.
Please Note
If your organisation/group has consistently had an income of over £200K and expect this to continue, we cannot consider an application from you.

• A registered charity is a voluntary organisation set up only for charitable purposes. Scottish charities must register with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).                                • A Community Interest Company is a limited company, registered with Companies House, designed for social enterprises which operate for the benefit of the community rather than private shareholders.
• A constituted group is a community group run on a voluntary basis, set up with a management committee, constitution and its own bank account.  
• An unconstituted group is an informal, voluntary collection of individuals working for a common purpose without a formal written constitution or legal structure which is not registered with any regulatory body.

By unconnected we mean these people should not be related; married or in a civil partnership with each other; in a long-term relationship with each other; or living together at the same address.
Please Note

We consider it good practice for registered Charities to have at least three unconnected Trustees on their Board. As you have advised that you do not have this, we cannot consider an application from you.


OSCR and SCVO have useful resources on good governance. Your local Third Sector Interface may also be able to provide some guidance around this.



If your work involves children, young people or vulnerable adults we need to know that you have policies in place to keep them safe. We might also ask to see these.
Please Note
If your organisation’s work involves children, young people or vulnerable adults, we can only accept an application from you if you have policies in place that set out how you will keep them safe.  

You can find more information on safeguarding, including useful resources and guidance, on the OSCR website.  Your local Third Sector Interface may also be able to provide some guidance around this.

We need to know that your organisation has a written agreement detailing how you will avoid discriminating against people, and how you will create a safe and inclusive atmosphere both within your workplace and for the people you support.
Please Note
We consider it good practice for organisations to recognise and promote equality and diversity, in all its forms, throughout their work.  We can only accept applications from organisations who have written policies in place detailing how they will avoid discriminating against people.  This includes how they create a safe and inclusive atmosphere, both within the workplace and for the people they support.  As you have advised that you do not have a policy/policies in place, we cannot consider an application from you.   

You can find more information about promoting equality and diversity within your organisation in the Scottish Governance Code for the Third Sector.  Your local Third Sector Interface may also be able to provide some guidance around this. 

By unconnected we mean these people should not be related; married or in a civil partnership with each other; in a long-term relationship with each other, or living together at the same address.
Please Note
We consider it good practice for Community Interest Companies to have at least three unconnected Directors on its Board.  As you have advised that you do not have this, we cannot consider an application from you.


We will only accept applications from CICs which are Limited by Guarantee. Your governing document must contain an asset lock which states all assets or funds must be used in furtherance of the organisation’s charitable purposes and will not be distributed to members, shareholders or owners. It must also include a dissolution clause which states any remaining assets or funds will be distributed to another charitable or not for profit organisation. Please note that we will ask to see a copy of your governing document as evidence of this.
Please Note
We can only consider applications from CICs which are limited by guarantee and which have an appropriate asset lock and dissolution clause.  If your organisation does not meet these requirements we cannot consider your application. 


If your work involves children, young people or vulnerable adults we need to know that you have policies in place to keep them safe. We might also ask to see these.
Please Note
If your organisation’s work involves children, young people or vulnerable adults, we can only accept an application from you if you have policies in place that set out how you will keep them safe.  

You can find more information on safeguarding, including useful resources and guidance, on the OSCR website.  Your local Third Sector Interface may also be able to provide some guidance around this.

We need to know that your organisation has a written agreement detailing how you will avoid discriminating against people, and how you will create a safe and inclusive atmosphere both within your workplace and for the people you support.
Please Note
We consider it good practice for organisations to recognise and promote equality and diversity, in all its forms, throughout their work.  We can only accept applications from organisations who have written policies in place detailing how they will avoid discriminating against people.  This includes how they create a safe and inclusive atmosphere, both within the workplace and for the people they support.  As you have advised that you do not have a policy/policies in place, we cannot consider an application from you.   

You can find more information about promoting equality and diversity within your organisation in the Scottish Governance Code for the Third Sector.  Your local Third Sector Interface may also be able to provide some guidance around this. 

By unconnected we mean these people should not be related; married or in a civil partnership with each other; in a long-term relationship with each other; or living together at the same address.
Please Note

We consider it good practice for organisations and groups to have at least three unconnected Trustees or members on its Board or Committee.  As you have advised that you do not have this, we cannot consider your application.


OSCR and SCVO have some useful resources on good governance.  Your local Third Sector Interface may also be able to provide you with some guidance around this.


You don't need to send us a copy of your constitution; however, we may ask to see this as part of our assessment process. We would expect this to include a membership clause which aligns with your organisations purpose.  This may mean that membership is open to all or restricted to people from a particular background or with lived experience.  Where membership is restricted, this must be framed in line with the Equality Act 2020.  It must also include a dissolution clause, which states that, if the organisation winds up, any remaining assets will be transferred to another voluntary organisation with similar aims.  Please refer to our guidance for further information on this.      
Please Note
If your community group does not have a formally adopted constitution you may be able to apply as an unconstituted group.  Please refer to our guidance for further information on eligibility requirements for unconstituted groups. 


If your work involves children, young people or vulnerable adults we need to know that you have policies in place to keep them safe. We might also ask to see these.
Please Note

If your work involves children, young people or vulnerable adults we can only accept an application from you if you have a policy in place which sets out how you will keep them safe. You can find more information on safeguarding, including useful resources and guidance, on the OCSR website.


Your local Third Sector Interface may also be able to provide you with some guidance around this.



Please Note

If you do not have an appropriate bank account in the name of your group, you must agree to any funding awarded being administered through a fiscal host.  As you have advised that you do not agree to The Social Change Nest, receiving, holding and managing the grant on your behalf, we are unable to consider your application.


By unconnected we mean these people should not be related; married or in a civil partnership with each other; in a long-term relationship with each other or living together at the same address.
Please Note
We consider it good practice for organisations and groups, including informal voluntary groups, to have at least 3 unconnected people directly involved in running the group.  As you have advised that you do not have this, we cannot consider your application.

Please Note

If you do not have an appropriate bank account in the name of your group, you must agree to any funding awarded being administered through a fiscal host.  As you have advised that you do not agree to The Social Change Nest, receiving, holding and managing the grant on your behalf, we are unable to consider your application.

Section 2 - About your Organisation

Please provide the name of your organisation or group. 
Please provide your Charity number as registered with OSCR or the Charity Commission. If you are a Scottish Charity, please enter this in the format SC012345.
Please provide your company number, as registered with Companies House.

·    Please provide an address for your organisation/group.  If you are a Charity or Community Interest Company this should be the address you are formally registered at with OSCR or Companies House. 

How many employed staff and volunteers does your organisation have?  Please do not include Board/Committee members as volunteers.

Pick from one of the options below:
- Most people (at least 75% of your Board/Management Committee and/or at least 50% of senior staff who report directly to your Board).
- Around half (50% of your Board/Management Committee and one person who reports directly to your Board).
- A small number (one or two people on your Board/Management Committee).
- None
- I don’t know

We will not use this information for assessment purposes.  We are interested in understanding the profile of the organisations we fund and will report on this figure annually as part of our Equity, Diversity, Participation and Rights (EDPR) Commitment.

By paid members of staff, we mean Trustees/Directors who are employed by your organisation and receive a salary.

Please tell us their name(s), position within the organisation and their role on the board, e.g. Chair. Do you have a conflict of interest policy in place? Please also tell us about any plans to change your Board structure, for example if the post holder will be stepping down as a Trustee/Director.

In your own words, please tell us about:
• The projects, activities or initiatives you run and the impact that they have on your community.
• How long you have been doing this work.
• If you plan to change or grow your work in the next year.
• Achievements that you are proud of.
• Values and practices that are important to your group or organisation.

Max 500 words - you do not need to use the full word count 

In your own words, please tell us:
• Who makes up your community – you might like to include their experiences, identities, strengths or challenges.
• How many people you have worked with or impacted over the past year so that we understand the scale of your work.

We are using the term BPoC to describe who this fund is for. You are encouraged to be specific about the cultural and ethnic background of your community using the language that is relevant and meaningful to your community.

Max 500 words – you do not need to use the whole word count

You may want to tell us about:
• Who is involved in leading your organisation or group, and the roles they hold.
• How reflective your leadership is of your community.
• How people find out about you and get involved.
• How people are supported to lead or shape your organisation or group.
• How you take into account that some people face more than one kind of barrier or disadvantage, and how this understanding shapes your ways of working.

Max 500 words – you do not need to use the whole word count

Section 3 - About your Request

Before completing this section, we strongly recommend you read the full guidance notes for the fund, which includes additional information on the questions below and what we're looking for. 

In your own words, please tell us:
• The specific systemic racism issue(s) you want to address with this funding.
• How you identified this issue and who was involved in the process.
• How this issue impacts members of your community.
• How tackling this issue builds on your current work.
• What you know about the root causes of this issue and if there is a particular root cause that you plan to address with this funding.

During the project development phase you will be able to develop your understanding of the issue. Please just share your current ideas, research, or understanding with us here.  Your community can be a geographic community, a community who share a particular interest, experience or identity, or a different kind of community.

Max 500 words – you do not need to use the whole word count

In your own words, please tell us about the bigger, longer term difference you hope your project will help create. This could be changes in people’s lives, in communities, systems, services, or wider social attitudes. Think beyond immediate activities or short term outcomes: what would be different in 5, 10, 20 years if your work is successful? It’s okay if this is aspirational or still evolving, just share your current thinking.

Max 500 words – you do not need to use the whole word count

This could include:
• People who have the power to make decisions about your issue.
• Organisations or systems involved in the issue.
• People who have similar experiences.
• Other relevant groups or stakeholders.
• Why these decision makers, groups or stakeholders are important to making the change you want to see.

Please share your current ideas, any research or analysis you’ve done and your understanding of who is relevant to your work. Please keep in mind that who you focus on will depend on the approach you take. We understand that this may change as your project develops.

Max 500 words – you do not need to use the whole word count

Please describe how you will involve your community, including:
• How your community will shape ideas or plans.
• How they will be involved in decision making.
• Any opportunities for people to lead activities or take action.

We are particularly interested in community-led approaches that enable your community to influence the strategy you take and be a part of taking action.

Max 500 words – you do not need to use the whole word count

You could tell us:
• What partners you will work with.
• The roles and responsibilities you will each take on.
• How you plan to budget for working with partners.
• If you do not know specific partners yet, please describe the type of partnerships you aim to build.
• If you do not plan to work with others, you may like to tell us why this is the right approach for your organisation/group.

Max 500 words – you do not need to use the whole word count

Tell us how you will use this time to build a strong understanding of the issue you want to address and develop a clear, practical plan for taking action. If successful, you will have 3–9 months for this phase and receive a grant of £10,000 to support your project development costs. You might include:

• What you want to have in place by the end of the development phase (such as a clear plan, partnerships, or agreed next steps).
• The key steps you will take to get there.
• Who will be involved and how they will take part.
• Any training, research, listening, or engagement activities you plan to do.
• The values or ways of working that will guide your approach.
• Any risks or challenges you anticipate.
• Any support you would find helpful from The Robertson Trust, other funded groups, or partner organisations.

Max 500 words – you do not need to use the whole word count


To select more than one local authority hold down the Ctrl button and click on all those that apply.

You do not need to know the exact amount of funding at this stage. You will have time during the project development phase to develop a detailed budget and confirm your request in the second stage of the application process. For now, please choose the option that best reflects your current income threshold and thinking about the scale of your project:

• £10,000–£20,000 per year (for 3 years): may be suitable for smaller or early stage groups, or projects with lower costs
• £20,000–£30,000 per year (for 3 years): may suit projects with more activity or some delivery costs, but limited staffing
• £30,000–£40,000 per year (for 3 years): may be appropriate if your project includes staffing or higher delivery costs.

Grants will last for three years, with a minimum of £10,000 per year, plus a one-off £10,000 development grant during the project development phase. As a guide, we expect funding to be around 20% of your organisation’s overall income, but this may be higher or lower depending on your context, the strength of your application, and the costs you develop during the project development phase. We understand that some projects will have additional costs linked to addressing systemic barriers (for example, accessibility or translation). We will consider these on a case by case basis.

We expect meetings to take place four times per year, two in person and two online. There will also be additional learning opportunities during the project development phase.

Section 4 - Contact Details


This contact must be a Trustee/Director or someone authorised to apply on behalf of the organisation.  Their details will be used as a contact point for all automated emails from The Robertson Trust, including confirming receipt of the application and our final funding decision.













This is the person we will contact with any queries about the application and who we expect to be the main point of contact throughout the assessment process.  If there is a chance that they might not be available for an extended period during the assessment timeframe, you may wish to consider nominating another person.

 

Their details will be used as a contact point for all automated emails from The Robertson Trust, including confirming receipt of the application and our final funding decision.
THIS CONTACT MUST BE DIFFERENT TO THE CONTACT NOTED ABOVE










Please refer to the fund guidance, and the additional paperwork section below for full details of specific paperwork or information we need as it may affect our ability to consider your application if you are unable to provide this.  Please note that if you are a newly registered Charity or Community Interest Company which has not yet produced its first set of Accounts we can still consider your application and will instead ask you to provide a recent copy bank statement, dated within 3 months, and details of a supporting contact. 

Community Interest Companies who have filed micro entity or small company Accounts which have not been independently examined should still upload their Accounts here and provide additional information/paperwork outlined below.   


It is helpful for our assessment if you can tell us here about:                                                                                           -      any one-off or unusual items in the accounts provided which would not normally                              feature on a year-to-year basis;

-        any large surplus or deficit recorded during the financial year;

-        high levels of Net Current Assets – if these are close to, or in excess of, your annual expenditure, it would be helpful to know if this is linked to increased planned expenditure in the next financial year;

               -     any investments listed - it is useful for us to know whether these are property-based                      or whether your organisation could access them relatively quickly to meet                                         expenditure needs.      
                                                                                                                                                                            If you are a UK wide Charity, please provide information on income and expenditure for your  Scottish operations, if available.                      


You must provide details of a supporting contact if:

- You are a newly registered Charity or Community Interest Company
- You are a Community Interest Company and have provided Accounts which have not been independently examined
- You are a constituted or unconstituted group

This should be someone who knows the work of your organisation or group but is not directly connected to it.  This might be a local community worker, MSP or Councillor, teacher, health professional or someone from your local Third Sector Interface.

Having someone from your community vouch for your work lets us know that you are well linked in within your local community and are known to others.                          
We may contact this person as part of our assessment of your application.  Please ensure that you have permission to provide their details and that they are happy for us to contact them.  We will store their details until any grant we award comes to an end.  Alternatively, you may attach a letter of support from a suitable contact.
















If you are having trouble uploading files, or need to send us additional documents, you can email them to us at arj@therobertsontrust.org.uk.
Please tell us your organisation's name and provide your application reference number, if you have one.  If you are unable to send us this form as a result of issues uploading files, please call us on 0141 353 4321. 

You can also use this space to tell us anything important we should consider when reviewing your application, so we understand your work, context, and circumstances more fully.

What did you like?  What was challenging? What could we do better? What was missing?

Section 6 - How Did You Hear about Us


* This could be a local authority funding fayre, Robertson Trust event or another funders’ event 

** Third Sector Interfaces (TSIs) provide a single point of access for support and advice for the third sector within local areas. There is a TSI in each local authority area in Scotland. 

Grant Terms and Conditions

By making an application to the Robertson Trust, you acknowledge that you are authorised to apply on behalf of your organisation and agree to the following terms and conditions:


Use of data:

  1. Your organisation unconditionally authorises The Robertson Trust to:
    1. Retain, store and use the information you give us in your application and future reporting for administration, analysis, research and promotional purposes;
    2. Publish details of any financial or non-financial support given to your organisation;
    3. Pass any details obtained about your organisation through this application or through subsequent assessment procedures to external agencies, including other grant-making bodies;
    4. Use such information as part of any survey undertaken by The Robertson Trust and/or use any such details as part of any press release or publication without the need at any time to obtain the further consent or agreement from your organisation.

Use of funds:


  1. If you are applying on behalf of an unincorporated association (i.e. a Charity which is not registered as a SCIO or separately with Companies House), you acknowledge that the individual Trustees of the Charity accept personal liability for any funding awarded;
  2. If awarded funding, the grant will be spent on only the purposes approved by The Robertson Trust, and only by the organisation to which we awarded funding;
  3. Where the grant is unrestricted, this money can be used towards any of the day to day operational costs of the organisation;
  4. The grant will not be paid until you have provided your bank details, a copy of a bank statement/letter no older than three months and you have met any other specific conditions of release, as detailed in your award email. If your funding is being hosted by The Social Change Nest, we will be in touch with you to confirm the process for payment and details of any additional requirements.
  5. The grant period commences upon release of the first payment. Each grant year runs for a period of 12 months from the date of release.
  6. Any (annual) instalment of the grant must be used within 12 months of release, unless agreed otherwise with a funding officer.
  7. You will participate in our peer-to-peer reporting model.  This means that, instead of reporting directly to The Robertson Trust, you will reflect on your work with another funded organisation operating in a similar area.
  8. We reserve the right to contact and/or visit you to see the funded work during the life of the grant.
  9. You will inform us, in advance where possible, of any significant change to the funded work, proposal or your organisation throughout the grant period (even if you have not yet drawn down the grant). A ‘significant change’ includes:
    1. a consequential change to your grant’s expenditure;
    2. any changes in postholder or to their role/hours/salary costs;
    3. any change in your organisation’s legal status or constitution;
    4. any significant operational changes within the organisation that are likely to affect the funded work;
    5. any serious financial or governance issue facing your organisation;
    6. any safeguarding concern raised about your organisation, its staff or volunteers;
    7. any underspend of our award.
  10. If you are not sure whether you need to let us know about an issue or change within your organisation or the funded work, please call us on 0141 353 4321 or email us at arj@therobertsontrust.org.uk.
  11. You will inform us of any concerns regarding your organisation raised with OSCR (Scotland), the Charity Commission (England and Wales), Companies House or Community Interest Company Regulator during the lifetime of our grant.  A list of concerns which OSCR can investigate are listed here.  
  12. Any underspend of our grant must be declared to us and may be refunded/repaid to the Robertson Trust.
  13. We reserve the right to withhold a grant or require repayment if:
    1. You have deliberately falsified information as part of your application or reporting;
    2. The work undertaken is not the work for which the funding was approved and where we have not approved these changes;
    3. Your organisation becomes insolvent or goes into administration, receivership or liquidation and the funding has not been spent on its intended purpose.

We will sometimes apply additional conditions to an individual grant and, if so, will inform you separately of these.


Where the application and grant award are made electronically, the agreement between us shall be deemed to be in writing and your online acceptance of these Terms and Conditions shall be deemed to be a signature to that agreement.




Once you have completed the form and are ready to send it to us, click the ‘send’ button below. You will then be shown a preview of your completed form, which you can review to ensure you are happy with your responses.  You can also print a copy of the form by clicking the ‘print this page’ button at the bottom of the next page. 

When we receive your application, we will email you a link to an online copy of your completed form.  If you require a paper copy application for your records, you should print a copy of this now. 

Once you are happy with your responses and have printed a copy of the form, if required, hit ‘confirm’ to send us the application form.  
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