This contractor has now been appointed and this call is now closed.
Members of long-standing protest rights groups have come together to form the Article 11 Trust – a charity working to defend rights to freedom of assembly and association under the ECHR. We help legal support groups to ensure people at protests know their rights. We facilitate ground-breaking research and education projects to push threats to protest rights into the spotlight. We help to empower the public to push for social justice through action.
The Article 11 Trust works in a collaborative and movement-led model with key partner groups that have been embedded in the protest rights movement for many years. Netpol was instrumental in co-founding the Article 11 Trust and is a key project partner for much of the Trust’s ongoing work.
Netpol is a coalition dedicated to monitoring public order, protest and street policing, and to challenging policing which is excessive, discriminatory or threatens civil rights.
About the Project
The Article 11 Trust has secured funding to develop a small grants programme. This programme aims to combat barriers to charitable funding for grassroots groups and campaigning organisations to defend and advance article 11 rights to freedom of assembly and association. This work is all the more critical given recent changes to Public Order legislation aimed at increasing police powers to inhibit protests.
We are looking to engage a consultant to support this work in its initial stages. This will involve conducting outreach to map the UK’s grass roots protest movements and identify potential grant recipients. Using their own networks, as well as those of Netpol and other Article 11 Trust Partners, in addition to desk-based research, they will help us develop a comprehensive understanding of the landscape and ecology of groups working the protest rights space. These may include dedicated support groups, but also activist and campaigning organisations whose work includes upholding the right to protest.
Both during and after this exercise the consultant will reach out and meet with potential grantees to identify where funding is most needed and where it could be best used.
The project will be embedded with Netpol and you will work closely with their staff as well as having access to their extensive networks, but we expect the project to extend far beyond these.
About You
You have great research and people skills, and an extensive network in grassroots movements and communities. These may include protest groups, solidarity organisations and trade unions.
You will be committed to the values of the Article 11 Trust and have an excellent understanding of the threats posed to the right to assembly. You will also, through your own experience working with small grassroots organisations have an excellent understanding of the administrative and organisational challenges they face and the role access to funding plays in addressing them.
You will be self-motivated and capable of working both autonomously and collaboratively to deliver projects in good time. You will be confident in exercising your judgment in how the project is delivered.
Deliverables
Deliverables will be finalised in consultation with you and the Article 11 Trust grants committee, who will also oversee the project, but we envisage the following:
- A comprehensive map of the potential grantees. This will identify individual protest groups, and infrastructure groups (e.g. funding passthroughs), key contacts, and any activities they conduct that might be supported by Article 11 Trust funding.
Key Information
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- Overall purpose
- Position and relationships to wider movement
- People and contacts
- Structure and governance
- Potential Fundable Activities
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- Identifying at least five projects for the initial funding round. It is not expected that the full application process will be completed for each of these projects during the consultancy period.
- Working with the Trustees to finalise a robust grants administration process, including applications, assessment and monitoring. The Article 11 Trust has already established a grant giving procedure to ensure compliance with charities law, but work is required to ensure it is fit for the purpose of a small grants programme.
- Handover to Article 11 Trust trustees and staff
Duration and Fee
The fee for this project is £6,000.
We estimate that this will require approximately 24 days’ work delivered over 8 weeks.
How to apply
We will be taking expressions of interest until Monday 21st August.
Please get in touch, telling us about yourself, and outlining your relevant experience by emailing contactus@article11trust.org.uk