The Edge Fund's Roots Funding Round will redistribute funds to grassroots groups organising against Islamophobia, Afriphobia, racial injustice, and the legacies of British colonialism in the UK and Ireland.

The Roots Fund is NOW open!

Applications will be received via our online application form, available from the 15th of October (9am) until the 2nd of November 2025 (23:59)

Please note that we will only receive 100 applications this year. The moment we reach this number the application form will be closed.

Note also that we do not fund religious organisations or groups whose primary goals are religious, offer service provision, organisations that make a profit, or charities (even if they are small). This fund aims to reach grassroots projects led by the affected communities pursuing radical politics for systemic change with a focus on the areas described above. You can get an idea of what we fund here and learn about our past grantees here.

We advise you to download this document and discuss the questions below with your group or organisation to have them ready for the day you submit your application using the online form. If you require support to access the questions and form in a different format, please contact Illa at [email protected]. 

 

BASIC CRITERIA to apply

You are an eligible group for the Roots Fund if..

1. Your aims and activities align with the Roots Fund
2. You are based in the UK/Ireland
3. You have an annual income is  £5K or less
4. Your group has been active for at least 6 months
5. Your group/org is an unregistered grassroots group (e.g. not a CIC, CIO, NGO)
6. You are not a commercial entity or a business
7. You are not applying as an individual 
8. You are a group (3+ or more members)
9. You are a group being led by affected communities by racism/colonial violence

 

Got any questions? 

Ask Illa: [email protected] - expect a written reply within 3 working days.

We are also offering three online drop-in Q&A sessions:

• Wednesday, 15th of October: 4:30-5:30 PM
• Thursday 23rd of October: 5-6 PM
• Friday 31st of October: 5-6 PM

Let us know if you are planning to attend one of the sessions and if you have any questions to share in advance. Email [email protected]. The ZOOM LINK for the meetings is here.

Our process: 

This funding round has been designed by Edge’s Funding Working Group, made of 13 organisers representing 6 grassroots groups whose aims align with the Roots Fund. They are Youth Front for Palestine, Migrant Women Press, World Stages Now, Unis Resist Border Control, Black Activists Rising Against Cuts, Queer Refugees Unite. Members of the FWG are past grantees and current members of Edge Fund. Applications will be assessed by them with support of Edge Fund. 

When will you hear back? 

• We will contact all applicants by the end of November if your application is eligible and shortlisted for assessment. 
• Grantees will be contacted by the second week of December.

Accessibility: 

If you have any difficulties with the form or with some of the application questions, please contact Illa at [email protected]. 

Feedback or queries:

If you are an Edge Fund member and would like to offer feedback on this form, please get in touch with Illa at [email protected].

 

Download this document to discuss it with your group. Just click here

The Edge Fund team

On 31st May we hosted our Radical Sharing Forum in London.

This was the first in-person edition of the event since before the Covid19 pandemics, which made it all the more special and relevant as it gave us the opportunity to make closer connections with the aim of building a network of radical organisations fighting for systemic change.

In fact, the RSF stated taking shape a few months back as Edge invited their members (past grantees) to join a Working Group to design the day according to their interests and needs. We were thrilled having 12 radical organisers representing 5 in our working group:Somos Semillas (We are Seeds), No2Hassockfield, Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants, World Stages Now and Dares Collective.

From March to April the Working Group had 6 preparation meetings to design the day and the workshops that attendees would be able to join. Discussions included the political topics we all wanted to address (as well as logistics and catering!) with the group finally choosing to focus on strategies to combat the far-right while also developing ways to look after each other as organisers in order to build up networks of support among campaings.

The day was attended by representatives of more than 20 organisations and gave everyone the opportunity to debate strategies to confront the increasing presence of the far-right in our communities, how to improve community-led strategies that tackle racism, Islamophobia, Afriphobia and multiple instances of colonial violence. We also had a space to talk about nurturing our networks as organisers, and a session to share skills that gave us the opportunity to learn from each other on strategies to better handle resolution of conflicts, internal and external communications and outreaching beyond our circles of organisers.  

We are committed to host more in-person and online discussions, and hope that those who were unable to join us this time can participate and contribute to coming events. 

We want to thank the MSN fund, whose grant allowed us to organise this event!

Following a successful crowdfunding campaign we are excited to start working toward the redistribution of grants for our Roots Funding Round, and we would like you to be part of the process and the decision-making! 

After the Race Riots that took place in the UK in the summer of 2024 we pledged to raise and redistribute funds to grassroots groups organising against Islamophobia, Afriphobia, racial injustice and the legacies of British colonialism in the UK.

To do this, we are inviting past grantees whose mission aligns with the aims of the Roots Funding Round to join us and become decision-makers in the redistribution of 40K to other radical grassroots groups. Your expertise will be key for securing a fair distribution of grants!

This is an open call to all members of Edge Fund (organisations that have received an Edge Fund grant) to assemble a new Funding Working Group (FWG) where Edge Fund members can support and lead in:

1. Deciding the criteria for the redistribution of funds: What kind of questions and reports can we ask and expect from groups during the application process and once they have secured a grant? How do we assess groups and how do we select 40 grantees? Should we prioritise specific areas  in the UK? 
2. Assess applications on the basis of the criteria agreed by the FWG.
3. Shortlist 40 grantees!
4. Meet with the new grantees

Participating in this process will not allow your group to apply for the fund, but your group will receive a financial compensation for its participation in the funds redistribution equivalent to the grant (£1,000.00). 

It is up to your group to decide how the funds are used. As Edge Fund we do not expect reports on how funds are used, but we do welcome and encourage your group’s participation in different spaces and formats to share updates about your campaigning, plans and how funds are used to reach your goals. 

Who can join the FWG for the Roots Funding Round?

We aim to include a maximum of 7 groups committed to campaigning for racial justice, against Islamophobia, Afriphobia and the legacies of colonial violence in the UK. 

We would prioritise a diversity of groups active in different areas of the UK and a diversity of the type of work and campaigning they do. 

Groups must be lead by people with lived experience in their areas of work of the Roots funding round: If you work on racial and migrant justice, for instance, your groups must be led by racialised people and migrants. If your group provides support to racialised and migrant communities we expect those who you support to be involved in your group and its decision-making process. We expect people with lived experience and expertise to join this FWG on behalf of your group.

We welcome members of groups who despite not having lived experience in their areas of work have acquired expertise as result of their campaigning.

Commitments from groups joining the FWG:

As part of Roots Funding Round, the FGW is expected to be involved in its main activities from late August to early December. During this period we expect to have:

• 6 meetings for discussing eligibility criteria and the application process, including an induction into the Edge Fund practice.
• 2-3 meetings to shortlist 40 grantees
• 1 evaluation meeting
• 1 online gathering with the new grantees. 

We expect to have at least two members per group involved in the process. It won’t be necessary for both members to attend every session but they must stay informed of the process and updated on agreements and tasks so that any of the two members attending meetings can report and contribute to the decision-making process. 

More than two members are always welcome! 

And remember that you will be acting on behalf of your group as Edge Fund grantee. 

Please note that decisions on the meetings schedule will be made with the appointed members of the FWG as soon as we assemble it and have the opportunity to greet them all.

Expression of interest:

Groups interested in joining the FWG for the Roots Funding Round must submit a brief introduction to their aims and structure completing this form by the 8th of August 2025. 

If you have any queries please write to [email protected]

The Edge Fund team

Last Saturday 5th of July 2025 we hosted our Annual General Meeting. This was a space where Edge Fund members had the opportunity to hear from our Regional Organiser, Illary, and Core Group members, Patrick (Treasurer) Nehanda (Chair) and Mijael (Secretary), the key aspects of our financial report for the financial year running from 1st February 2024 to 31st January 2025. Read the report here.

The conversation included an overview of the current structure of Edge Fund and how membership is understood and build up. We also explored how members can be more directly involved in Edge Fund's decisions. We then moved onto a summary of our report of activities and accounts for the past financial year, including Patrick's report as treasurer on our current income and expenses, and a discussion on the ongoing fundraising efforts led by the CG. 

After launching our Roots Crowdfunder in the last months of the 2024/25 financial we had the opportunity to report that we have reached our £50K goal! The crowdfunder gives us enough funds for our next funding round, including the distribution of 40 grants of £1K each to 40 groups, and the expenses of those members assessing applications as well as an in-person meeting. As we did for the past two years, we aim to compensate members for the time they dedicate to assess applications.

Following the Race Riots in the UK in the summer of 2024, we pledged that our coming funding round would focus on supporting groups fighting against Islamophobia, Afriphobia and the legacies of colonial violence in the UK. Having secured the funds for the funding round we will next announce the mechanism for their redistribution in a process led by Edge Fund members. We will announce soon a call to assemble a new Funding Working Group with Edge Fund members with lived experience in those areas we are committed to support.  

After the financial discussion Illary presented some key figures and learnings from our Funding Round 16, where we distributed 40 grants of 1K to 40 radical groups fighting for systemic change in the UK. Illary focused on the main steps of the funds redistribution, from assembling a Funding Working Group to recruiting and training Edge Fund members to assess 183 eligible applications out of the 212 we received in total.

Have a look at the organisational presentation we shared on the day:

Illa continued the conversation on membership engagement by reflecting on the Radical Sharing Forums hosted in April 2024 and May 2025 with past grantees. The former was dedicated to the struggle for Palestinian liberation and hosted three of the five groups that were recipients of the emergency fund for Palestine set up in December 2023. We had the opportunity to hear from the Palestine Youth Movement (UK chapter), Let's Talk Palestine and Parents for Palestine on key aspects of the struggle for Palestinian liberation that are not discussed even in left-wing, progressive media. The notes of the day are here.

We also had the opportunity to reflect on the RSF 'No Justice without Solidarity', hosted in person in London on 31st May 2025. We reflected on the organising process in which a total group of 5 grantees delineated the schedule for the day and planned together the workshops that other Edge Fund members had the opportunity to attend. This was a new approach to our RSF organising process, in which members took the lead in designing and facilitating the gathering of Edge Fund members while Edge Fund made available the funds to cover venue, food, material and transport costs for all attendees. The day consisted in discussions on two main questions to articulate and build up solidarity among organisers: How do we resist and respond to the far right and their increased presence in all areas of politics? How we look after ourselves and other organisers while trying to make a significant political impact through radical strategies? The discussion was followed by a space where groups had the opportunity to learn from each other specific skills for their own organising, from communications to decision-making processes that are inclusive and empowering. 

The AGM concluded with the ratification of the current CG to deliver three main points during the rest of the current financial year:

- Guarantee the conditions for the successful delivery of our 'Roots' Funding Round 17, improving membership engagement in the process and developing our administrative systems.

- Implement our fundraising strategy to secure the financial stability of the organisation while improving our financial procedures. 

- Expand the Core Group membership to include two new members with the skills to provide strategic thinking in fundraising and communications, and with lived experience or expertise in racial justice and other struggles led by minoritised communities. 

Members also shared their questions on the reports and initiatives to promote membership engagement. These included working closely with other funders supporting radical grassroots organisations and hosting regional versions of the Radical Sharing Forum, with members offering support in different areas of Edge Fund's work! We are thankful for all the comments, questions and initiatives shared by the members attending the AGM.

If you have queries on the report please email them to [email protected] and [email protected]

 

In the coming weeks we will announce how we are redistributing these funds to radical organisations opposing Islamophobia, Afriphobia and the legacies of Colonial violence in the UK. In the meantime we want to say thanks to everyone who has supported Edge Fund and is helping us to continue being a radical funder in these difficult times!

Join us this Saturday 5th of July, from 11:00am to 12:30pm, to discuss our report of the 2024-2025 financial year and plans for the current 2025-2026 year. Come and meet other Edge Fund members and share your questions and initiatives with us! 

Please have a look at our 2025 Annual Report covering the period from 1st February 2024 to 31st January 2025. If you cannot attend the meeting and have any concerns, questions or initiatives, please submit them in written to info [email protected] and [email protected] and we will reply to you. 

Please note that this is an online meeting for members only. Emails with details for the online gathering were sent out to via our members' list on the 19th and 25th of June with a copy of the annual report. If you did not received it please email us at [email protected] and we will reply with the details.

 

Support Edge Fund's 2025 Root Funding Round & help us raise £50,000 for grassroots groups and collectives opposing Islamophobia & colonial violence in the UK

 

“The mess we are living in is a deliberate one. If it was created by people, it can be dismantled by people, and it can be rebuilt in a way that serves all, rather than a selfish, hoarding few.“ Renni Eddo-Lodge.

 

Who We Fund and Why Your Support Matters Now?

“Edge Fund's grant helped us secure another year for our most basic of campaign tools - our website registration, hosting, paying for child care to help key members organise online working groups, and more.” -Grantee-member.

For over a decade, we have identified and supported more than 500 grassroots movements and activist collectives, such as Bristol Sex Workers Collective, Demilitarise Lancaster, the Filipino Domestic Workers Association UK, Cradle Community, and hundreds more. Groups doing the work of sowing the seeds for another world altogether. We particularly look for groups based in the UK that are run by and for migrants, queer and gender variant, disabled, working class and people of the global majority.

Our current political landscape continues to put profits over people and the planet—a sentiment rippling further into the funding and philanthropy sector. Since the beginning of the current genocide in Gaza, several funding bodies and organisations in the UK have altered their guidelines to discourage activist and political activity. What does this mean for grassroots groups and activist collectives for whom the personal is the political and their very existence is politicised?

Empowering Resistance: Radical Funding for Grassroots Movements Against Islamophobia and Colonial Violence.

“Thank you for the ease of being able to apply for small grants to small groups like ours. The money made it easier for us to document our journey on our website. And that journey led to this! Our legal challenge against Horse Hill resulted in a historic Supreme Court ruling that could halt future fossil fuel projects across the UK.”-Weald Action Group, Grantee-member.

Like many of you, at Edge we were outraged by the levels of Afriphobic and Islamophobic hate and violence spread in the summer riots of 2024. As a participatory grantmaking fund we want to support the work of independent grassroots groups already doing the work of protecting and empowering their communities.

In December 2023, we allocated emergency funds for Palestinian led and centred groups in the UK. The groups became grantee-members of Edge who shared vital knowledge of the ways in which we can guide our principals to better show up for and support the Palestinian struggle.

This work underscored the urgent need for Edge to establish a dedicated radical funding round specifically for groups opposing Islamophobia and colonial violence in the UK. Through our participatory membership model, we want to fund groups at the forefront of the struggle for justice and liberation. These groups invite us to reimagine a better world for all, and expand our knowledge and understanding of how to show up for these struggles.

We're raising £50,000 to deliver this Root Funding Round. Your support will allow us to:

• Grant £1000 to 40 independent grassroots groups and activist collectives opposing islamophobia and colonial violence in the UK.
• Ensure the work process is accessible and inclusive for all Edge members.
• Recruit, prepare and resource Edge members with lived experience to score the Root Funding Round applications.
• Hold a hybrid in-person and online Radical Sharing Forum; a space for Edge members (current and past grantees) to meet up, share their work, organising strategies, problems, aims and achievements. The Radical Sharing Forum is a space for building solidarity among radical grassroots organisers, aimed to cultivate networks of support and collaboration, as all struggles are interconnected.
• Create a free resource guide from knowledge shared and produced through the Radical Sharing Forum for grassroots groups and activist collectives in the UK. 

 

Your support can make this vital work a reality. By contributing to our radical Root Funding Round, you join a movement resisting systemic neglect, erasure and attack. Together, we challenge colonial violence and empower our communities forward. 

“We were able to afford to pay for the rent of an office space in Work For Change, a cooperative in Hulme, Manchester. This is a great fit for us and has led to some great collaborations with our fellow cooperative members “ - CHARM Grantee-Member

 

If you are in solidarity with our aims and values, there are three ways in which you can support our crowdfunder:

* Go to our donate section and become a single or recurrent donor

* Donate directly to our 2025 Root Funding Round crowdfunder page

* Make a bank transfer or place a recurrent standing order to our Co-operative Bank Account:

Account no. 65578645 / Sort Code 089299

 

Glossary: 

Islamophobia: irrational fear of, hostility towards, or prejudice against the religion of Islam and/or Muslims in General. A state sanctioned form of racism.

Afriphobia: is specifically racism against Afrikan People. It refers to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards Afrikan people globally. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the implication of antipathy, contempt and aversion. It is apparent in acts of discrimination and racist violence on the basis of a person’s skin colour, racial/ethnic origin, and nationality. Afriphobia is discrimination on grounds that seek to dehumanise a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood, this includes Afriphobic hate crimes through verbal abuse, degrading language and physical violence against Afrikan people.

*Spelling Afrika with a ‘K’ represents a non-European, Afrikan-centred perspective, symbolising the reclamation of a unified Afrikan identity and people worldwide.  

Global Majority: refers to people who are Black, Asian, dual-heritage, indigenous to the Global South, and or have been racialised as 'ethnic minorities'. Globally, these groups approximately represent 80% of the world's population.

Radical: of, relating to, or proceeding from a root.

 

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Who are the Edge Fund members looking at your applications? Who is involved in deciding how the £40K are distributed?

For our 2024 Funding Round 16, 21 Edge Fund members from Ireland and around the UK will read your applications.

Edge Fund members are grassroots and community organisers whose groups have received an Edge Fund grant in the past. They are joining us in our efforts to redistribute funds to radical grassroots campaigns pushing for systemic change.

These are the Edge Fund members involved in deciding how to distribute funds in FR16:

1. Andi: Scoring on behalf of We Grow (@wegrow.cic). We Grow connects people who live within walking distance of each other, to form groups to grow communal food together. I have worked in community building for over 20 years and is part of local funding panels.

2. Julia: Scoring on behalf of Mad Insight (madinsight.online). A group of mad scholars, activists and pioneers who critique the mainstream mental health paradigm. We assert that madness offers knowledge, understanding and experiencing of the world.

3. Pasqueline: Scoring on behalf of Black Socialists London (@blacksocialistslondon), a grassroots anti-racist and anti-imperialist organisation run by BPOC where we run political educational sessions and discussions, and community initiatives.

4. Jennifer from the Resting Up Collective (@restingupcollective_) is the founder of resting up collective, an interdisciplinary group of chronically ill/disabled friends practising slowness to create, think, and interrupt neoliberal pressures/expectations on the body.

5. Laura from Migrant Women Press (@migrantwomenpress) My name is Laura, and in addition to being an Edge Fund Scorer, I am the Literature Section Editor for Migrant Women Press. We amplify the voices of migrant women and challenge mainstream media narratives about immigrants.

6. Eva from People's Health Movement Scotland (@phmscotland). The People’s Health Movement (PHM) Scotland is part of the global PHM social movement working towards the progressive realisation of a fairer & healthier world. I am one of the core members.

7. Asma from BAXSAN (@BAXSAN). The Somali word BAXSAN translates to emancipation/liberation. BAXSAN is an artist collective and private peer support network made up of artists and community facilitators, whose primary focus is creating connections, fostering community and creating art from the shared experiences of LGBTQI+ Somalis. Their work is heavily rooted in exploring and affirming liberation practices. Since the group’s inception, they have prioritised safety, resourcing and upskilling, providing spaces to commune and create.

8. Chris from Friends of Little Woods (@FriendsofLittleWoods). Friends of Little Woods campaigns for social and environmental justice in Northern Ireland. Chris is the Treasurer and a founder member.

9. Sophie. Massage therapist and mama to a 1 year old. I currently organise with Decolonising Economics. Previously involved in survivor and sex worker-led groups, focusing on those who are racialised.

10. C from BP or not BP? (@BPotNotBP). My name is C and I am part of BP or not BP? where we are campaigning the British Museum to drop their sponsorship deal with BP. We believe that cultural institutions must break their links with the fossil fuel industry, and that oil-sponsored institutions are also ideal venues to provoke a wider public conversation about the destructive activities of the fossil fuel industry, and to amplify the voices of those affected by them.

11. MG from Exiled Writers Ink (@ExiledWritersInk). MG is an editorial committee member of the Exiled Writers Ink e-magazine. Exiled Writers Ink develops and promotes the creative literary expression of refugees, migrants and exiles.

12. David from People's Land Policy (@PeoplesLandPolicy). D is part of The People’s Land Policy is a project to develop discussion and debate about what kind of land reform we need. By bringing together a range of people to discuss land and the issues that affect them we hope to contribute to the building of a broad-based, radical movement for land reform.

13. Kat, from Sex Worker Collectives and with ample knowledge and lived experience of sex worker struggles and disability liberation.

14. A from an Anti-fasicst Research Group. We are a group of anti-fascist investigators, using open source and investigative methods to expose and oppose the far right in Britain.

15. Jen from Our Streets Now (@OurStreetsNow). Our vision is a world free from public sexual harassment. A world which empowers, listens to and believes survivors, and which challenges this culture of gender-based violence and intersecting forms of oppression, rather than upholding it. 

16. Olivia from Women Integration Network (@WIN). Our focus is supporting marginalized groups, asylum seekers and migrant women to defeat social isolation, foster friendships and achieve integration.

17. Tina from Nanas UK Against Fracking (@UKNanas) We are a group of compassionate individuals from all walks of life, fighting to protect our communities from the harmful effects of fracking, fossil fuels and injustice. 

18. Tia from Wanderers of Colour (@wanderersofcolour). By + For BPOC. 🌱Committed to social justice through improving access to the outdoors. Primarily UK based w/ members global

19. Elgan from Food and Solidarity (@foodandsolidarity). Food and Solidarity is a democratic membership organisation committed to improving the quality of life in your neighbourhoods. Towards an organised workplace, community, and household.

20. Leah from Space Hijackers (@SpaceHijackers). The Space Hijackers were a group of Anarchitects which was set up at the beginning of 1999.

21. Philippo from Other Ways to Care. First-generation, neurodivergent immigrant, white male in 30s, peer supporter and community organiser living in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

 

In the context of the Race Riots in the past weeks, we at Edge Fund reiterate our solidarity with all those who have been attacked with racial abuse and Islamophobia, and those affected by the continued targeting of the State for defending their communities.

We are a participatory grantmaking fund working on making a difference. 

We are in the process of redistributing £40K. Edge Fund’s members reviewing applications and supporting the overall work of the organisation understand the critical juncture at which we are, and commit to support during this Funding Round groups doing systemic work to challenge racism and Islamophobia, as well as those organising new forms of solidarity among migrants, people of colour and refugees. We pledge to support those old and new groups challenging the hostile environment that sowed the recent riots, and those holding power to account as racism is still woven into the fabric of British society. 

If you are part of a grassroots organisation challenging racism and racist structures we want to support your work.

If you are in the position to support our work, please consider making a donation so that we can keep on redistributing funds!

 

Edge Fund

12 September 2024