At the end of last year, we announced New Connections, a new ringfenced fund for finding and supporting organisations who could not, or would not, usually apply to Esmée. We’re pleased now to share more about the organisations who have been awarded funding.
In this first group, we have prioritised organisations who are led by, and for, communities experiencing racial inequity. Learn more about the thinking behind New Connections.
Each organisation has been awarded £60,000, alongside an additional £10,000 to support their participation in a facilitated Peer Network over two years. Organisations will also be given extra capacity building support that they will help to co-design, which Esmée will cover the costs of.
Following an open tender process, we have also appointed Do It Now Now to work with us and the organisations as the Network Facilitator.
You can learn more about 19 of the funded organisations below. One organisation preferred to be anonymous.
Anansi Theatre Company
Anansi Theatre Company incorporates issues of importance in our current culture and society. Led by and for Women of Colour, Anansi Theatre advocates for the de-stigmatisation of mental health and is committed to creating a safe space for Women of Colour where they can feel empowered and be in solidarity. Based in Derby, they provide workshops and creative sessions and performances for children and young people, and adults. They also work together with Derby Council and community groups to offer the skills most needed as well as reducing the barriers that Women of Colour face in arts venues.
© Anansi Theatre Company. A group of women are dancing and moving around a rehearsal space.
Black Curatorial
Black Curatorial is a creative agency and consultancy that exists to push Black curators and creatives to play more in their practice, providing spaces to discuss, dissect and build curatorial projects together in a critical and accountable way. They curate public events that centre Black knowledge producers and creatives; and their work includes exhibitions, films, residencies and education programmes. As a consultancy, they also offer services to organisations and brands from Black artists, thinkers and creatives. One of their current projects includes a documentary about the impact of slavery and colonialism on the ecology of Barbados.
Black Girls Hike
Black Girls Hike was established to provide a safe space for Black women to explore the outdoors and reconnect with nature. Challenging the status quo, and encouraging Black women to reconnect with nature, they host nationwide group hikes, outdoor activity days and training events for Black women who want to explore nature but have been deterred by past experiences of micro-aggressions, and the lack of representation of Black women in the outdoors. Black Girls Hike also advocates for a more inclusive and representative environment sector by championing the need to ensure all aspects of outdoor and environment work consider diversity and inclusion.
© Black Girls Hike - photo by Laurelle. A group of Black women sit around a circle in a field at an event with Green and Away. There are several tends in the background.
Black Ocean Citizens
Black Ocean Citizens was established to address the inequality in the UK’s marine and coastal sector by empowering and increasing access for under-represented groups to enjoy the ocean, as well as showcasing the vital work of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour, on fisheries, and coast and ocean sustainability. They are committed to advancing educational programmes, scholarships, community outreach, and partnerships with organisations focused on diversifying the fisheries, coast and ocean sectors. They also collaborate and engage with local communities and experts in the field to promote healthy, diverse and sustainable oceans.
Community Arts by ZK
Community Arts by ZK is a community arts organisation using art to tackle inequalities and promote diverse, creative and inclusive communities in Pendle, Lancashire. They design and deliver art projects, activities, and workshops that value, encourage and engage people in the community, allowing them to express themselves more effectively and communicate their ideas in a creative way. They have several strands of work including Threads of Migration, where refugee and migrant communities across Lancashire use art to tell their stories. They also work in collaboration with other organisations from art galleries to local councils, to focus on community-relevant, solution-focused art. These have helped Community Arts by ZK to act as a conduit between racially marginalised communities in Pendle and local and regional influencers.
Cysters
Cysters is a grassroots, community-led charity committed to enhancing the health, education, and wellbeing of individuals experiencing menstrual, maternal, menopausal and mental health challenges, particularly those from marginalised or culturally diverse backgrounds. Their work is grounded in centering intersectional lived experiences and the principles of decolonisation.
Cysters carries out and supports academics in community-based research highlighting the health inequalities experienced by women of colour while also contributing to the growing body of scientific research highlighting the serious impact of these inequalities. They equip individuals with the knowledge and resources needed to make informed decisions about their treatment options, and are also involved in cultural advocacy with the aim of dismantling the cultural misogyny surrounding menstrual, maternal, and mental health issues, as well as chronic illnesses.
Families in Harmony
Families in Harmony aim to end racial disparity in kinship care, using a co-production approach of ‘together we are stronger’. They work within a Trauma Informed framework, providing families with culturally tailored family support services including parenting programmes and peer support groups, as well as kinship carer advocacy, which includes working with social workers to increase their understanding of lived experience through information workshops. They are also working to highlight the needs of Black kinship carers, and influence policies, which have neglected the specific issues they have faced due to racial inequity in the system.
Before finding Families In Harmony, I felt lonely. I had been involved in other peer support activities and the carers were friendly. But Families In Harmony is different. We vibe freely, and everyone gets what you’re saying when issues to do with race and discrimination are mentioned.
Mel, Wandsworth
© Families in Harmony - Sharon MCPherson, Director of Co-production, Development and Policy, at the BBC studios.
FiveXMore
FiveXMore is a grassroots organisation committed to changing and highlighting Black maternal health outcomes in the UK. They provide resources and support to empower Black women and birthing people to make informed choices and advocate for themselves throughout their pregnancies and after childbirth. They are also working to make changes at policy and practice level, through research, training and lobbying for change. In 2020, their campaign led to a historical parliament debate on improving Black maternal health and later the launch of a Black Maternal Health APPG. FiveXMore also published a comprehensive nationwide report of Black women's maternity experiences in the UK and launched an annual Black Maternal Health awareness week.
Kids of Colour
Kids of Colour is an anti-racist youth work organisation that provides spaces where young people of colour can explore ‘race’, identity and culture, and to feel supported, validated and celebrated. They believe in building a movement of collective anti-racist resistance, driving change for young people in a way that is reflective, hopeful, and grounded in care.
Kids of Colour also advocate for families and young people of colour in the education and criminal justice systems, using their knowledge and connections to legal networks and other organisations in the space. They are also involved in and support campaigns relevant to wider movement building against racial injustice such as their successful ‘No Police in Schools’ campaign.
Listen Up
Listen Up is a research consultancy working to amplify the experiences of Black and Racialised Children in child protection and safeguarding. Their work is underpinned by intersectionality and focuses on the impact of 'adultification' bias (which refers to “when notions of innocence and vulnerability are not afforded to certain children”) in services and support provided to children and young people, as well as in institutions. They are working to change policy, practice and behaviour through research, resources and workforce development training. More recently, they have partnered with the Missing People charity to explore the experiences of Black missing children.
Migrants in Culture
Migrants in Culture is a migrant-led design agency working to resource organisers and artists to build more creative and powerful social movements that grow collective capacity to imagine and live without borders.
Their work is divided into three strands: Design services and training that enable social movements to tell complex stories in compelling and accessible formats; Creative learning labs for organisers to practise moving towards border abolition through their Saturday School programme; and Research into creative strategy and lived experience leadership through their Roots & Routes initiative.
© Migrants in Culture, photo by Sana Badri - A group of students attend Migrants in Culture's Saturday School.
Milk Honey Bees
Milk Honey Bees is a creative and expressive space for Black girls to flourish and put H.E.R (Healing, Empowerment and Resilience) first. Milk Honey Bees amplifies the voice and visibility of Black Girls in all facets of life while creating opportunities for their creative expression, celebration and liberation. In 2022, they published ‘Girlhood Unfiltered’, a ground-breaking anthology of essays, letters and creative work which authentically reflected the multifaceted experience of Black Girlhood. And in 2023, Milk Honey Bees released a pilot for 'See Us, Hear Us' which has led to a full report, led and shaped by school-aged Black girls in London, which uncovered the impact of structural and social issues such as adultification and carceral treatment in London’s schooling system, that uniquely impacts Black girls.
© Milk Honey Bees - Group of young Black girls from Milk Honey Bees. They are standing on a rooftop with a London backdrop and the Milk Honey Bees logo is overlaid above them.
Passion4Fusion
Passion4Fusion is a Black and Minority Ethnic-led organisation in Scotland, aiming to empower and advance the equal and active participation of diverse Ethnic Minority communities in Edinburgh and Lothians, particularly young people and women. They work to address issues including racism, under-representation, and poor access to services. They do this by providing culturally appropriate support, promoting community cohesion that celebrates multicultural heritage, and engaging with stakeholders and policymakers to advocate for better services.
Passion4Fusion work collaboratively with families and young people, ensuring their programmes are shaped by them; and with a range of services, to equip everyone with the specialist knowledge required to respond to the unique and individual needs of these families with refugee/asylum status.
Radical Ecology
Radical Ecology is a community organisation working across culture, research and policy for environmental justice. Based in South-West England and networked worldwide, Radical Ecology believes that policy only moves at the pace that its cultural foundations will support. They innovate at policy level, but also focus on nurturing the kind of intellectual and cultural spaces that will help to generate and propagate the kind of climate and finance policies that the 21st century needs. As well as providing a programme of events and resources, they also engage in various projects and partnerships to support the emergence of new infrastructures for environmental justice.
The Black Curriculum
The Black Curriculum is a social enterprise working to address the lack of Black British history in the national curriculum. They empower young people and educators across the UK to engage with Black British history all year round. By doing so, they aim to support social cohesion and knowledge in the development of young people. They offer a range of programmes and learning resources including teacher training, cultural awareness workshops for workplaces, and programmes for young people. They also do policy, research and advocacy with the aim of shaping national, local and school policies and practices on the teaching of Black History.
© The Black Curriculum - Young ambassadors from the Black Curriculum celebrate the organisation's fifth birthday.
The Black Wellbeing Collective
The Black Wellbeing Collective is a community and workplace wellbeing service, providing inclusive and intersectional wellbeing support for lived experiences and the healing of social exclusion. They prioritise the impact that racial distress has on Black communities by providing self-care tools and a space of ease. Central to their approach is joy, compassion, validation and support.
The Collective is made up of therapists, counsellors, psychologists, coaches, speakers and facilitators, creatives, and holistic practitioners. They offer a diverse range of services including self-care talks and creative workshops, tailored wellbeing support for staff through an Employee Assistance Programme, and wellbeing and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the workplace support. They have worked with a range of clients including commercial brands, charities, refugee and migration organisations, and universities.
The Three Hijabis
The Three Hijabis is an antiracist movement founded and led by three Muslim women. Their mission is to use sports and culture to realise racial and gender justice by using their voices and experience to educate, lead and campaign for systems change. As well as running Rahma, a safe space for Muslim women working in social justice to connect, they are also developing a mentoring and coaching programme called Shifa for Sisters; and work closely with partners to influence politicians and decision-makers. Their work is informed by a Muslim feminist framework of practice which prioritises authenticity, rest, wellbeing and psychological safety to combat the exhaustion and burnout often experienced by Muslim women changemakers.
Tribe Arts
Tribe Arts is an award-winning actor-led theatre and media production company working to eradicate racism with the power and potential of art. They work across artforms, platforms and disciplines to amplify the stories and voices of British black and Asian communities in order to raise the consciousness of the effects of Empire and colonialism to wider British society. Projects include their flagship programme Tribe Talks, a participatory format designed to engage audiences and artists to explore societal issues relating to the black and Asian people, as well as serve as a space for healing and reflection; and Off/Stage - the only publication and platform of its kind dedicated to black, Asian and Global Majority theatre and culture.
© Tribe Arts. Two members of the team on stage giving a talk as part of Tribe Talks.
Urban Community Project
Urban Community Project is a community organisation providing a safe space for Black and minority ethnic young people and their families. Based in Glasgow, they have built strong relationships in their community and centre belonging, heritage, safety, and wellbeing across all their work. Local people are involved as social leaders who volunteer and participate in the development of Urban Community Project’s strategy, and young people are also involved in shaping and decision-making of their services. They provide a range of programmes focusing on areas including mental health and self-development. Some of the programmes completed by the organisation have been women and girl’s empowerment, Men’s Group and Near to Nature. Current projects are a parent group with neurodivergent children, faith-based group and school programmes.
© Urban Community Project - The team pose for a picture.
About Do It Now Now
Do it Now Now (DiNN) was appointed as the New Connections Network Facilitator in April 2024. They has the dual role of facilitating a programme of peer support and learning, and additional capacity building, co-designed with the organisations; as well as giving guidance, challenge, and advice to Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, in order to shape our future funding practice.
DiNN is a London-based infrastructure organisation, by and for, Black and Global Majority organisations in the UK that supports charities and social enterprises that operate in an environment of structural inequalities through capacity building and advocacy. DiNN’s methodology rooted in championing lived experience, experience working with Black and Global Majority-led organisations, as well as their extensive work as an intermediary grantmaker, gives them the ability and insights to challenge Esmée in their approach, and influence the sector. Their groundbreaking work over the past few years, made them a good fit to support the funded organisations and ourselves through this learning journey.
