Written by Administrator | 17 March 2010

Thanks to the Neighbourhood Renewal and Working Neighbourhoods Fund, I have offered support to voluntary groups working for the benefit of Acton's black, minority ethnic and refugee communities for the past five years. The project grew from theBMER Needs Audit and has offered:

• Full fundraising support
• Capacity building support
• Information, training and development events
• Signposting to forums, training, accountancy and other development aid
• Networking & building partnerships

Like much of the voluntary sector, Ealing organisations have trouble accessing sufficient funding—and particularly dire forecasts were made as the recession began. While certainly the past year has seen suspension, closure and much reduced spending by funders, so far it seems Ealing's small and/or BMER sector is weathering the storm without major cutbacks in services or closures.

However, Ealing has historically had the second-lowest Council grant spend in Outer London, and has London's worst in attracting Lottery grants for a deprived area--£9 per head vs. £43 in east London. Ealing also has a higher proportion of small groups than west London—two thirds of the Borough voluntary sector—and a high proportion of BMER organisations, of which a quarter are based in Acton.

It has been widely shown that BMER organisations receive disproportionately less grant money, despite the high established needs of these communities. Further, as groups are run mainly if not exclusively by volunteers, it is very difficult for them to find the time for fundraising on top of running their organisations, delivering services and activities—and in many cases, also holding separate employment. Three-quarters of the groups I work with have no paid coordinating or administrative staff.

Working with my counterparts at Southall Community Alliance, I have tried to take some of the burden off of Acton organisations so that they can focus on serving their communities, while also upgrading their skills and capacities to deliver, develop and succeed.