The UK Democracy Fund has been hosted by the JRSST Charitable Trust (JRSST-CT) since November 2025.
Between 2019-2025, the Fund was hosted by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust.
Details of all grants awarded by the Fund whilst hosted by JRRT can be found here.
UK Democracy Fund grants awarded by JRSST-CT
Politics in Action & Shout Out UK: #Bound2Vote
#Bound2Vote is a large-scale, non-partisan, digital campaign to drive up voter registration among 16–35-year-olds in Northern Ireland ahead of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Local District Council elections in May 2027, with a particular focus on 16–25-year-olds as the most under-registered and politically disengaged cohort.
Politics in Action have been awarded £21,934 over one year to recruit, support and facilitate a co-design team of young people and provide advice to Shout Out UK on the political and social context in Northern Ireland.
Shout Out UK have been awarded £71,983 over one year for the production of the digital assets and the delivery of the campaign.
Goal: Increasing participation of everyone in our elections
Websites: www.politicsinaction.org and www.shoutoutuk.org
Awarded: June 2026
Generation Rent: Reforms to register more renters to vote
£38,788 over one year to influence the Representation of the People Bill as it goes through Parliament, and the secondary legislation needed to implement Automatic Voter Registration (AVR), to make sure that the voter registration system registers as many private renters as possible.
Goal: Enabling everyone to vote
Website: www.generationrent.org
Awarded: June 2026
National Union of Students: Influencing for automated student voter registration
£14,890 over four months to strengthen and accelerate efforts to implement a scalable and automated model for student voter registration in colleges and universities.
Goal: Increasing participation of everyone in our elections
Website: www.nus.org.uk
Awarded: March 2026
Politics Project: Supporting Coordination on the Roadmap to Votes at 16
£52,712 over one year to focus on ensuring that the sector is well-coordinated and prepared to support the effective and equitable implementation of Votes at 16.
Goal: Securing quality democratic education for young people
Website: www.thepoliticsproject.org.uk
Awarded: March 2026
Purpose Union: Developing a Scalable Pathway for Student Voter Registration
£12,000 over one year to provide strategic support and institutional insight into how a scalable, automated approach to student voter registration could realistically work for universities and colleges.
Goal: Increasing participation of everyone in our elections
Website: www.purposeunion.com
Awarded: March 2026
Unlock Democracy: Securing Automatic Voter Registration
£42,199 to continue the campaign for Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) through the passage of the Representation of the People Bill and for the critical implementation period after the Bill is passed.
Goal: Enabling everyone to vote
Website: www.unlockdemocracy.org.uk
Awarded: March 2026
Forward Action: Digital-first relational organising to power participation
£38,255 over six months to pilot digital-first relational organising as a method to increase voter participation among underrepresented groups – specifically young people in rented or insecure living situations – working in partnership with the National Union of Students (NUS).
Goal: Informed citizens
Website: forwardaction.uk
Awarded: December 2025
Politics in Action: Votes at 16 Next Steps
£45,272 over one year to continue their youth-led campaign to lower the voting age in Northern Ireland and to lobby the NI Department for Education for a comprehensive and effective democratic education in schools.
Goal: Informed citizens
Website: www.politicsinaction.org
Awarded: December 2025
Details of all grants awarded by the Fund before December 2025, whilst hosted by JRRT, can be found here.