Category: Blog

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Introducing: Involve and the Network for Democracy

JRRT is today announcing that it has agreed a three-year grant award of £350,000 to Involve to set up a Democracy Network, which includes a contribution of £50,000 from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) to the first year of this new initiative.

In 2020, we commissioned Networking for Democracy, an analysis of sector needs and perspectives. It concludes that building better connections within and outside the sector is a priority capacity building need; and that there is a good case and support for building a “network”.

Following on from this work, and having reached out to groups and individuals working in the democracy space to craft a Call for Proposals, we are thrilled to announce that Involve has been commissioned to take forward work on incubating, expanding and coordinating a Network for Democracy over the next three years.

Involve is the UK’s public participation charity with a vision of a more vibrant democracy, with people at the heart of decision-making. They recognise that the democracy sector is made up of a great diversity of groups and organisations across the country. Work to develop the network will begin from June, with three aims in mind:

  • Connecting: Developing a trusted, strong, diverse and well-functioning democracy network, with high engagement in network activities and an expanding reach to new groups;
  • Information sharing and capacity building: Increasing the knowledge, skills, resources and impact of members; and,
  • Vision and influence: Expanding the collective influence of the network and its members, including receiving increased media and political attention.

Tim Hughes from Involve explains: “The initial focus of activities will be on co-developing the network with people from across the democracy sector and exploring how the network can help to support and boost the impact of existing initiatives. Ultimately, we want to build a broad and diverse coalition of people passionate about democracy that reaches far and wide across the country, and enables us to collectively shape our democratic future.”

Fiona Weir, CEO of JRRT, says: “The growing collaboration across the democracy sector is encouraging and vital given the multiple and serious challenges to democracy today. JRRT is making a multi-year commitment to funding a Democracy Network to strengthen efforts in this space. 

We were impressed by Involve’s commitment to an open and co-creative approach that will build trust and sustain collaboration, alongside their grasp of how a network could add value to existing initiatives, building the collective power and influence of the sector.”

Katharine Knox, JRCT Power and Accountability Programme Manager says: “We are delighted to be supporting the establishment of this new initiative to build collaboration in the democracy sector. The challenges we are facing in relation to democratic accountability at this time in the UK warrant supporting the sector to pull together to maximise information sharing, coordination and connections to increase the sector’s influence. We look forward to working with JRRT and Involve in the year ahead.”

Get involved

To stay in touch with the  Democracy Network and help to shape its development, please sign up here.

Or get in touch via DemocracyNetwork@involve.org.uk 

Regular updates on the activities and events of the Network for Democracy can be seen in the free monthly sector newsletter, Democracy Action. Subscribe here today!

 

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A statement from JRRT on the origins of our endowments

For more than a century, the JRRT Board and staff have been inspired by Joseph Rowntree’s pioneering social reforms in York and determination to get to the heart of the underlying causes of injustice and inequality.

Last year, the Black Lives Matters protests and the disproportionate impact of the COVID pandemic led to a renewed focus on racial injustice and inequalities and prompted us to reflect on our history and on the origins of our endowments, something we should have done earlier.

Today, the Rowntree Society is publishing findings – here – of a preliminary research project setting out connections between the Rowntree Company and systems and enslavement and forced labour. The three Trusts Joseph Rowntree set up in 1904 are each publishing statements in response:

We are deeply sorry that the origins of our endowments are rooted in practices that have caused suffering and enduring harm.

We find ourselves at the start of a journey to build a new legacy, one that embeds race equality within our work to address political inequality. We are committed to increasing the racial diversity of our organisations, governance and networks, and to ensuring our grant making and programmes do more to tackle the underlying causes of racial injustice and political inequality today.   We don’t yet know what this will look like or how to build the connections we will need. We know that listening to the voices of black and minority ethnic people must shape this work and that we need to be open to challenge.

As a small first step we are publishing an audit of our grants, which you can see here. Transparency will enable us to be accountable for the progress we make.

Fiona Weir

Chief Executive, JRRT

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UK Democracy Map

 

JRRT’s work is driven by a concern that the ongoing erosion of trust in the political class and our democratic institutions is creating a moment of crisis for democracy. For a long time, JRRT has been interested in getting a better understanding of who is working on democracy issues and how.

One of the top priorities from the survey we conducted of our grantees last year was a better understanding of who was campaigning on what democracy issues. With that in mind, we commissioned Koreo to create the UK Democracy Map. This exciting initiative is intended to assist those working or campaigning on democracy, by helping people find each other, making their work more visible and promoting collaboration and information-sharing. Please share it far and wide and encourage those who work on democracy to add their details.

There is a taxonomy to draw on, to help describe work on democracy. This was created following Koreo’s discussions with many democracy campaigners. There is also a report Mapping the Democracy Movement, describing how the map was developed.

 

Developing the map

We are very keen to see the UK Democracy Map grow as a response to the needs of the sector.

Whether you are a funder, think tank, academic institution, single-issue campaign, empowering young people through political and media literacy, seeking to improve the digital public space, encouraging more people to get involved in decision-making, or working on one of the many other aspects of democracy, please do add yourself to the map.

As you can see, democracy work comes in all shapes and sizes, not all of them obvious. Part of the job of the map is to help people realise they are not alone in wanting people to be able to take better and more informed decisions about their lives, who represents us, and the way our communities are governed.

If you have thoughts on how the map can be refined, improved and promoted, or simply wish to discuss the work of your organisation with JRRT, please get in touch.

 

Photo by Leah Kelley from Pexels

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It’s here! Democracy Action publishes its first edition 

Earlier in the year, we funded a piece of research called ‘Networking for Democracy: An analysis of the needs of the sector and proposals for new networking efforts.’

Its author, Democracy Club co-founder Joe Mitchell, spoke to JRRT grantees and others working in what can definitely be described as a ‘democracy sector’.  Joe reported back to us that in order to strengthen the sector, there was a need for more information sharing, community building, consensus and collaboration. One of his recommendations was for a one-to-many newsletter that would tick all the boxes outlined above.

That’s how the idea for Democracy Action was born.

Since the autumn, the idea has flexed and evolved. Democracy Action has not only been conceived but nurtured, born, named and is already growing fast! It’s a monthly newsletter yes, but also a thriving website where you can find the latest edition and new updates in between.

Democracy Actions aims to: 

  • Alert you to the latest news and views
  • Help you discover some of the recent research and info that can inform you work
  • Connect you to others active in and around the sector
  • Highlight where and how you can have influence and effect change
  • Support you in your efforts to fundraise for what you do
  • Feature free and cheap ways to learn and improve your skills

The next edition is heading for inboxes just before Christmas, and we hope it’ll inspire you well into the new year.  If you’ve not already signed up, what are you waiting for? Go to www.democracyaction.org.uk to be part of it.

We’d also love to hear from you with ideas, inspiration and content for future editions. So, drop us a line on hello@democracyaction.org.uk with your contributions. We can’t wait to hear from you!

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SMK National Campaigner Awards 2020

The Sheila McKechnie Foundation (SMK) was set up 15 years ago to honour and preserve the memory of legendary campaigner Sheila McKechnie. Sheila described herself as a ‘fully paid up member of the awkward squad’. This mind-set, combined with formidable research and a commitment to constructing a watertight argument, made her campaigning powers legendary.

 

The SMK National Campaigner Awards

Each year, SMK celebrates the best campaigns and campaigners – whether working locally or nationally, and from individuals and community groups to people working in large organisations. Their interest is in finding those who have made change happen – most effectively, creatively and courageously.

The SMK David and Goliath Award was sponsored by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, and reflects one of our key aims: to strengthen the hand of those individuals and small organisations which fight large scale and systemic injustice.

In 2020, there was an especially strong field of nominees for the award, and the judges agreed that all those nominated would be very worthy winners.

The award was presented to Diarmaid McDonald and Plan B on Orkambi. Through this campaign, and through Diarmaid’s work, the families of children with cystic fibrosis have been able to fight the powerful pharmaceutical industry, and to ensure that the drugs their children need are fairly priced and available through the NHS.

The judges, including JRRT director Professor Sue Mendus, applaud the courage and tenacity of the winners and congratulate them on successfully fighting this Goliath.

 

Visit www.smk.org.uk/awards for more details.

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Networking for democracy

“Our democracy faces serious challenges. Substantial new efforts are required to counter those challenges – and to build upon and improve our democracy. One of the most effective ways to support this work is to connect the efforts of those pursuing such goals.” 

Cover of Networking for DemocracyJoe Mitchell’s JRRT-funded report Networking for democracy synthesises evidence gathered following two months of interviews across the sector and a small literature review.

 

 

 

JRRT is interested in hearing the views of grantees, applicants and other campaigners on the report’s proposals.

 

Downloads and links: 

Executive Summary 

Full Report 

Google Document (for ongoing comments, corrections and clarifications)

 

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Is it time for Automatic Voter Registration in the UK?

A research report by Toby James and Paul Bernal of the University of East Anglia considering the case for Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) was published on Wednesday 29 April 2020. The research was commissioned by the UK Democracy Fund, a pooled fund set up by JRRT.

 

Download the full report here 

 

  • Millions are missing from the electoral registers – the Electoral Commission estimated in September 2019 that some 17% of eligible voters in Great Britain were not correctly registered.

 

  • The delay of the May 2020 elections due to COVID-19 is generating debate about effective digital means of registering citizens ahead of the bumper package of elections in May 2021, with local, Mayoral and elections in the devolved nations.

 

  • Government announcements in late March on Boundary Reviews, which are based on registration data, add further urgency to calls for reform.

 

  • Cross party support is building with backing from the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee in its 2014 report on voter engagement and the APPG on Democratic Participation report in 2019.

 

Is AVR the solution?

 

The research report sets out the array of measures, such as automatic voter registration and assisted voter registration, that could be adopted. It considers the impacts on privacy, data protection, consent and security.

 

Download the full report here 

 

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The Irish abortion referendum one year on

SMK Event sponsored by JRRT: The Irish Abortion Referendum – One Year On.

Inspiring, engaging, high energy – and extremely useful: just some of the responses to the SMK Change Network event, sponsored by JRRT, on 23 May 2019.

The event, at The Foundry, London, focused on the fight for abortion rights in Ireland and welcomed Irish campaigners who secured an overwhelming ‘yes’ vote in last year’s referendum on abortion. In May 2018, the Irish electorate voted by over 66% to remove the 8th Amendment from the Constitution which banned abortion in almost all circumstances.

Keynote speakers were Deidre Duffy (campaign manager for Together for Yes, pictured above), Dr Claire Brophy (co-convenor of the Abortion Rights Campaign, photo left) and Rachel Lavin (data journalist and Who Targets Me?). Nike Jonah (creative producer for Counterpoint Arts) also joined the panel for a series of provocations to the audience of around 40 UK campaigners.

This event was one of a series for SMK’s Change Network, which brings campaigners together to explore and learn from key instances of social change.

SMK described the occasion as “our best Change Network to date – constructive, emotional and inspiring”.

The speakers were all excellent, engaging and shared their huge knowledge and expertise very generously. It was a very positive event, combining big picture strategy with nitty-gritty, ‘on the doorstep’ game-changing detail. Many of the attendees said that they felt the learnings could be applied in many ways to improve campaigning and make it more effective.

The group discussion also resulted in stimulating and high quality input.

Chloe Hardy, Director of Policy & Communications at the Sheila McKechnie Foundation, blogged about the event and a podcast will be available soon – which no doubt will be well worth a listen!

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Grants: our commitment to transparency

At JRRT, we make grants to a wide range of organisations striving to achieve aims that reflect the liberal and Quaker heritage of our founder, Joseph Rowntree. Our current grant-making priorities are political and democratic reform. We support campaigns that seek to bring about significant changes in the political system, making it more accountable, democratic and transparent and to rebalance power for the well-being of society.

In line with these aims, we make our own commitment to transparency in publishing details of the campaigns and organisations that we support through our grant making.  Details of all of the grants that JRRT has awarded since 2015 are available on the grants awarded section of our website. You can read case studies about some of our grantees or sign up to receive our e-newsletter to be kept informed of our grant making and the impacts being achieved by our grantees.

Furthermore, we have joined more than 100 funders in publishing our grants’ data in a standardised open-source format as part of the 360Giving initiative. 360Giving is a not-for-profit organisation that supports UK grant makers to publish information on who, where and what they fund.

Details of more than 300,000 grants totalling more than £8 billion are shared via 360Giving’s website and can be interrogated using their free analytic tools, including the flagship GrantNav database platform and the 360Insights visualisation  tool. Using standard identifiers for funders and for grantees, and providing consistent information in fields such as grant amount, duration, and grant description, results in a vast and easily comparable dataset. 360Giving describes its vision as supporting “UK grant making to be more informed, effective and strategic”. It wants to facilitate a shift “from sharing data to using it” that boosts the impact of grant giving and enables funders to find coherencies between themselves and others.

GrantNav enables grant makers to search easily for other funders that are supporting similar organisations, projects and causes, increasing opportunities for collaboration and added value in grant making. 360Insights produces visual illustrations of datasets, enabling often complex data to be compared, described and shared.

Our intentions in making our JRRT data publically accessible to the 360Giving standard are therefore:

·       to aid collaboration between grant makers, enabling decision making and learning across the sector to be more informed;

·       to demonstrate clearly to researchers and commentators where our grant funding is being allocated, to whom and for what purposes; and

·       to enable potential grantees to see who and what we have funded in the past, and where our current strategy is focusing our funding, in order to help them make an informed decision about whether to apply to JRRT

Our grants data are updated quarterly after each of our larger funding rounds. The most recent spreadsheet of data is downloadable here or visit 360Giving’s GrantNav database to interrogate our data alongside that of other funders.

By Nicky Milsted, the Administrator at JRRT.