Frequently asked questions

There are two funding rounds. This is the second funding round, and we anticipate distributing £1.2m. You can find details of what we funded in round 1 here.

Read the guidelines, attend an information seminar and draft your application before you formally submit it online.

Have a clear idea of the change you want to achieve by the end of the funding period and HOW you will achieve it. And tell us!

Some people find it helpful to imagine that they are having a celebratory meal at the end of the project and talking about what they have achieved. What would you like to be saying?

Applications in round 1 were more likely to be successful in obtaining funding if they had a conversation with us first. If you have an idea, but aren’t sure if it’s right for the Disability justice fund, why not have a chat with us before you make your application? Or email us. We’re friendly.

We'll consider applications from these types of organisations, which all have constitutions:

- Trusts

- Unincorporated Associations

- Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)

- Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG) which may also be registered as a Charity or a Community Interest Company Limited by Guarantee.

Companies and CICs must have at least one unpaid independent director or an Independent Board with knowledge of and skills to scrutinise the organisation’s finances.

Yes.  You can benefit in three ways:

1. You can be a partner in a project led by an organisation with a constitution. It is OK for the organisation with a constitution to give you money to carry out your work as long as your project falls within the criteria of the DJF.
2. You can ask an organisation with a constitution to apply for funding on your behalf. You will need to have a good conversation about how this will work as the organisation with a constitution will be legally responsible for making sure that the grant money is spent properly in line with charitable law. They probably will need to budget for their time managing this grant on your behalf. The host organisation would have to fill out the application form because they legally responsible for looking after the grant monies. However, we anticipate that the host organisation and group(s) would work together on the application. There will be assessments for all shortlisted applications, and the host organisation and the group(s) would all need to attend the assessment. This will give us an opportunity to work out the best way of managing the relationship(s) between the Trust and the host organisation and the group(s) over the grant period if awarded a grant.
3. If your organisation is in the process of getting a constitution, you can apply for funding in the name of your organisation.  When you apply, please explain your plans.  We will contact you if we have any questions.  If you are shortlisted, we can chat about what the best way of managing your money might be.  We could also talk about whether you need support, as part of the grant, in learning how to manage your funding. We are keen to support new organisations in a way that works best for you.

Yes, as we know that many organisations that we currently fund are struggling, and need to develop their capacity so they are better able to plan for the long term and campaign more effectively e.g. a part time CEO or finance manager may want to increase their hours.

We'll be taking a strategic view of the applications, and want to fund a cross section of organisations. We'l take into account what we'e already funded in round one. The disability movement won’t flourish unless we fund a range of organisations.

We've learned from round one, and taken feedback on board. The round two application form is designed slightly differently. We hope that this will give you an opportunity to show case your project so that you can be shortlisted.

We strongly recommend that you have a chat to a grant manager about your application before you formally submit it.

You cannot recycle exactly the same application as it will be rejected, but we recognise that you may have had time to rethink your approach, and want to do something similar. If this is the case, we would encourage you to have a conversation with Trust for London before submitting your application.

When you book your conversation with a grant manager at Trust for London, please mention that you want to talk about your old application as well so that we look at it before our conversation.

You can budget for access costs separately.

When you complete the application form, please tick the box that says you are applying for £20,000 or less.

When you are asked how much you are requesting from Trust for London – input the costs of your project. Later on in the application form, there is a question which says ‘Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your organisation, application or the information you have provided’.  Please tell us there that you require additional funding for access costs.    You will be asked to upload your budget documents.  When this happens,  please also upload your access budget, as well as your project budget.

Please stick to the word limit. This allows us to compare applications more fairly.

Six months is the minimum funding period, although we anticipate that most grants are likely to be for longer as you cannot achieve much in six months. The maximum period you can apply for is three years.

Yes you can, although we cannot guarantee that the project start and finish dates will be the same as in your original application. We will talk about this with you. For example, we may say that we will not give you the funding until you have successfully recruited someone to do the work.

No as this is service delivery. The Disability justice fund is not funding service delivery projects.

Example 1

We won't fund:

• Giving welfare benefits advice
• Supporting people in accessing benefits

Instead we might fund:

Research and campaigning about the impact of the current benefit system on Disabled people.

Example 2

We won't fund:

• Housing advice

Instead we might fund:

Using the information from your advice-giving services alongside two focus groups with Disabled people in your borough to lobby for better housing for disabled people in your borough. And working with other London boroughs to lobby for a better approach to housing for Disabled people in London.

Example 3

We won't fund:

• Organising craft making activities
• Lunch club
• Meals on wheels

Instead we might fund:

Arranging for all members who regularly come to your lunch club or other activities to learn about their rights and how they can write letters to their local councillors.

Example 4

We won't fund:

• Drama

Instead we might fund:

Developing a production that tackles a political issue, and working with an organisation that campaigns on this political issue.

We have a grants manager who uses BSL so you can have an informal chat with them about what would be best for you. What’s right for one Deaf person may not be right for another Deaf person.

We invite people to tell us on the application form if they struggle with written English so that we can take this into account when reading the grant application.

Although we will want you to answer some questions on the application form in English e.g. name of organisation, charity number, we can accept video submissions for the ‘longer questions’ and arrange to have them transcribed into written English.

It’s worth noting that we have got an Access Support Fund so that you can apply for up to £500 to pay for an interpreter or support worker to work with you to complete the application. Please contact us to discuss how we can make the application process work for you.

Please don't worry about your level of English. It doesn't need to be perfect. Your ideas and information about the project are more important.

Things that might be useful to know:

• We've provided two example applications for people who are new to writing funding applications which you may find helpful to look at. You can find them in the document download section of the Disability justice fund page.
• We invite people to tell us on the application form if they struggle with written English so that we can take this into account when reading the grant application.
• Although we will want you to answer some questions on the application form in English e.g. name of organisation, charity number, we will accept video/voice submissions for the ‘longer questions’ and arrange to have them transcribed into written English.
• We have got an Access Support Fund so that you can apply for up to £500 to pay for a support worker to work with you to complete the application.

Please contact us to discuss how we can make the application process work for you.

Things that might be useful to know:

• We have provided two example applications for people who are new to writing funding applications which you may find helpful to look at.  You can find them in the documents download section on the Disability justice fund page.
• We invite people to tell us on the application form if they struggle with written English or have access requirements so that we can take this into account when reading the grant application. Although we'll want you to answer some questions on the application form in English e.g. name of organisation, charity number, we will accept video/voice submissions for the ‘longer’ questions, and arrange to have them transcribed into English.  Please contact us if you want to do this.

We are offering an Access Support Fund where you can apply for up to £500 to pay for a support worker to work with you to complete the application

If this doesn't address your need, please contact us on djf@trustforlondon.org.uk.

Our definition of impairment or Disability is very wide.

We will fund pan-impairment or pan-disability organisations, or organisations that focus on one particular impairment or condition or common experiences of barriers in society (e.g. needing step-free access).

We are using the UNRCPD definition of disability which states that Disabled people:

…include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation

in society on an equal basis with others.

Any group covered by the Equality Act 2010 will be covered by the UNCRPD definition.

This definition is very wide and includes:

- People with physical impairments

- People with visual impairments

- Deaf people

- People with hearing impairments

- People who experience mental distress

- People with learning difficulties

- People with long term health conditions

- People who are neuro divergent.

If you do not like the word ‘impairment’ (not everyone does), it may be helpful if you know that Trust for London knows that many DDPOs follow the social model of disability. The social model of disability states that impairment is the name given to our condition or physical, cognitive or sensory difference, and ‘disability’ is the name for the system of discrimination people with impairments experience. More information about the social model can be found here on Inclusion London’s website.

For example

• Can we apply for funding if we are a group of people who are neuro divergent, but do not have any Deaf or Disabled people in our group?

Yes, you can apply for funding.

• Can we apply for funding if we are a group of Deaf people?

Yes, you can apply for funding.

• We are a group of people in London who have cancer. Can we apply for funding?

Yes, you can apply for funding as this is a long-term health condition.

Yes you can, as we do not need to know the details of people’s impairments/conditions/diagnoses. However, in your application you will need to tell us whether over 75% of your trustees are Deaf or Disabled people (without including any personal identifying details). This information will not be shared publicly. But, something to consider is that we will be publicising organisations which receive grants from us, and making it clear that they are DDPOs.

It may be helpful for you to know that most DDPOs do not give specific details of board member/staff impairments but do have a public statement which makes it clear that their organisation is run by people who are Deaf or Disabled. Think about what wording would be right for your organisation. For example, you could have a statement which says:

‘XXXX is a user-led organisation which aims to promote the equality of deaf and disabled people’

‘We are proud that to say that [more than 75%] [all members of our board] [and more than 50% of our staff] have personal experience of living in a disabling world/neurodiversity/cancer/depression etc.’

‘We are a deaf-led organisation which XXXXX’

‘We are an organisation which is led for and by people with ADHD’

In short, yes. We want to fund movement building and capacity building across the sector. This means we anticipate that some organisations will want to apply for funding for themselves plus be part of a partnership bid with other DDPOs.

For example, an organization might want to apply for funding towards their campaign manager’s salary so that they can work full time instead of part-time, and participate in a partnership bid looking at leadership.

We would expect another DDPO to be leading the partnership bid.  This is because organisations should not submit more than one application. If you feel that it would not be appropriate for another DDPO to be the lead organisation and that your organisation should lead it, please check with us if this is possible BEFORE submitting your application.  If you do not do this, we reserve the right to reject one or both of your applications.

No. An example of an application that would be eligible is an organisation with a constitution applying for funding, in conjunction with four small groups which do not have constitutions.

Yes. But we'll need to understand why you have chosen non-DDPOs to be partners. We want to give funding to projects/initiatives/programmes that are Disabled-led. We'll need to feel confident that the DDPO making the application, and any other DDPOs involved in the bid, have power and control and would expect to see this reflected in the budget with the majority of the resource staying within the DDPO(s).

We would want to understand the role of the non-DPPO and why this role could not be undertaken by another DPPO. Sometimes, it will be easy for us to understand why you are working with a non-DDPO, e.g. a university, or a campaigning training provider, but sometimes it may not be. You can use the application form to give us more information.

If you're shortlisted, you'll have the opportunity to explain more about how the partnership will work. You can also speak to a grants manager before making an application.

Yes, you'll need to nominate a lead partner. We will be happy to talk about how this will work during the assessment visit, so that we can try to manage the process in a way that works well for the partnership. You can change your mind about who the lead partner will be at the shortlisting stage.

There’s nothing to stop your partnership asking for more. However, we suggest you have a conversation with a grants manager so that we are aware of the background to the partnership application, and so it can be taken into account when all the applications are reviewed.

Organisations are welcome to make linked applications, but there is no guarantee that both applications will be successful.

Yes, but it's important that you can show how your project will benefit Deaf and Disabled Londoners.

Your project may have a better chance of success if you work in partnership with a London DDPO. We are keen to improve the capacity of DDPOs in London so they are more effective, powerful, inclusive, influential and sustainable.

Yes, but it is important that you can show how your project will benefit Deaf and Disabled Londoners.

Your project may have a better chance of success if you work in partnership with London DDPOs as we are keen to improve the capacity of DDPOs in London.