We are pleased to announce that the fourth year of our Resilience Fund is open to applications between 3 – 28 March 2025.
For the first time, we are offering three-year resilience grants and 25% of all grants will be unrestricted for organisations to use flexibly to meet their most pressing needs.
This year’s fund will focus on supporting organisations that align with our Youth leadership impact goal. We believe that young people should be involved in shaping the services, systems and policies that affect their lives, and have a say over the issues that matter to them.
We are looking to support up to six organisations that are working to build leadership skills in young people affected by racist or Islamophobic violence, empowering them to positively impact their own lives and the communities in which they live.
The focus on this cohort of young people is a direct response to the racist and Islamophobic riots that we saw in our communities last year. The fund is open to organisations working with young people affected by all forms of racism.
Successful applicants will receive a grant of up to £90,000 over three years to build their organisational resilience. We will prioritise funding for organisations led by young people aged 18-30, and eligible organisations will need to demonstrate that young people have a clear role and voice at every level of the organisation.
As well as grant funding, successful applicants will have access to the Foundation’s bespoke learning and evaluation programme, which aims to build an ecosystem of support and learning for partner organisations.
Stage 1 applications to the Resilience Fund are welcomed before 28 March 2025 via Resilience Fund | Berkeley Foundation.
Clare Maddison, Interim Head of the Berkeley Foundation, said:
“Through the Resilience Fund, we aim to support partner organisations to carve out valuable space and time to invest in long-term sustainability and build their future resilience, so that they will be around to serve young people and their communities for many years to come. This year’s fund will also enable us to expand our partnership work in the youth leadership space, which we are very excited about!”
Louise Shara-Mattock, Head of Fundraising at Esteem, one of our Year 3 Resilience Fund Partners, said:
“Our partnership with the Berkeley Foundation is already having an impact on our financial sustainability. Their grant enabled us to invest in diversifying our income, developing our case for support and corporate sponsorship and partnership proposals, and building relationships with companies and individuals.
What excites us most is the long-term impact this will have on our resilience as a charity to build a better future for young people.”