Fund Criteria
- Small Fund for Wigan based Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations & Hate Crime Reporting Centres to raise awareness of hate crime, encourage reporting & promote access to support
- Awards of up to £500 for activities in National Hate Crime Awareness Week on 3rd to 9th of February 2025
- Maximum of one award per organisation or collaboration bid
- Funding priorities:
- Opening date for applications: Tuesday 22nd October 2024
- Closing date for applications: 12:00 noon on Friday 29th November 2024
- Decision to be made by: Early December 2024.
All successful applications will have:
- Plans to encourage the reporting of hate behaviour
- Plans to promote services that support victims of hate crime
- Plans to reach out beyond your existing audience to engage the wider community by increasing understanding of hate crime accross a broad range of local people.
In February 2025 we want to continue to support voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations to deliver projects that will raise awareness of what hate crime is, understand how to report hate crime and how and where to get support.
Additional requirements
- All funded projects must link in with the Hate Crime Lead Officer from Wigan Council regarding the promotion of activities and events
- We will ask successful organisations to participate in publicity and promotion of the activities in partnership with the Communities Team and Wigan’s Community Safety Partnership.
About the fund
This fund is supported by contributions from Wigan Council and Greater Manchester Police. Read GM Police's definition of hate crime (external link).
Aims of hate crime awareness week
Wigan’s Community Safety Partnership knows that it is important that the public have the confidence to come forward and report hate crime in the knowledge that this will be taken seriously and dealt with. Hate crime is an offence against an individual and has a profound negative effect on people’s confidence and feelings of safety. As a partnership we have worked hard to increase reporting of hate crimes and to improve the responses to victims.
The partnership works closely with third party reporting centres and wider community organisations to support people to report and deal with the impacts of hate crimes. We want to build on this by holding events and activities during Greater Manchester Hate Crime Awareness Week.
Let's end hate crime (external link) has hate crime awareness images and resources for Greater Manchester.
What can you spend the money on?
We want to fund a variety of projects from across Wigan’s neighbourhoods and diverse communities to engage with as many new people as possible on the topic of hate crime. Successful organisations will be able to evidence how they will reach out beyond their current audience and networks to spread the message.
The fund can be used to cover refreshments, printing and materials, equipment, or any reasonable costs linked specifically to your Hate Crime Awareness Week project. If you would like to fund something that is not included in the list above, contact the Prevention hub.
What sort of projects can be funded?
New ideas are always welcome, but in the past we have included:
- Food sharing
- Social media campaigns
- Training workshops
- Drama performances
- Sporting activities
- Podcasts
- Solidarity walks
- Art project exhibitions
- Storytelling sessions.
What policies and documentation is required?
- Health and Safety Policy
- Equality and Diversity Statement or Policy
- Public Liability Insurance (Cost can be included in budget)
- Risk Assessments
- Safeguarding Adults Policy (If applicable to project activities)
- Safeguarding Children Policy (If applicable to project activities).
Please note: If your project involves working with children or vulnerable adults you will need to provide a copy of the relevant Safeguarding Policy at the time you submit your application.
How to apply
Apply for the hate crime awareness fund online (external link). Applicants will need to complete the form by 12:00 noon on Friday 29th November 2024.
How will applications be assessed?
On receipt of applications, Wigan Council will undertake a number of eligibility checks. All applications that are eligible will be independently scored by a panel consisting of representatives from Greater Manchester Police, Wigan Council and The Communities Team. Extra weighting will be given to collaborative bids, and bids by specialist by and for services focusing on equality of access to support services. This assessment panel will then meet to agree the awards and provide feedback on unsuccessful applications.
All applicants will be informed around early December 2024.
If successful, when will we receive the funds?
When you receive an offer letter from Wigan Council, complete and return the ‘Acceptance of Fund Form’ along with an invoice for the full fund amount. For organisations that have not received funds from Wigan Council before or have changed bank account since their last award we will also require proof of bank details. This can take the form of a copy of a bank statement, cheque book, paying in slip or bank card.
On receipt of these documents Wigan Council will then issue the funds by bank transfer as soon as possible ready for the February week of action (3rd- 9th February 2025). All successful applications will be sent an evaluation that will be required to complete at part of the bid to be completed by the end of March 2025.
All project delivery and spending must be complete by the end of February 2025.
How will projects be evaluated by the Community Safety Partnership?
- The number of additional people who are now aware of hate crime
- The number of additional people who are now aware of how to report hate crime
- The number of additional people who are now aware of support available for victims and witnesses of hate crime.
Your project may also be selected for a monitoring visit to see your project in action.
What support is available to applicants?
If you would like any support or advice with your application, please contact the Prevention hub. Drop in sessions can be arranged based on mutual convenience.
You can also attend the Funding Friday Drop-In sessions hosted by the Communities Team which are held every other Friday of the month. Dates for these sessions can be found on Wigan Borough Community team. Further support is available via the Communities webpage.