An Islington Council panel led by what it calls “people with experience of seeking sanctuary” will decide how funds will be allocated to help refugees settle in the borough.
Islington Council closed applications for its Borough of Sanctuary Grants (BSG) Programme last week, with local charities, resident groups, faith organisations, and schools having been able to apply for funds.
Applicants will be assessed by the 18-member board made up of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, which first met last Autumn, to decide how to spend its £500,000 budget by the end of the financial year.
“Registered charities and non-profits” had been able to request grants of £5,000 to £50,000, while small “unincorporated” groups were eligible for awards of £1,000 to £3,000.
The scheme, which comes after Islington achieved Borough of Sanctuary status in 2023, follows similar efforts in Camden, Haringey, and Westminster.
A council representative working with the experience-led panel said the scheme is “based on a model we saw for climate change in Islington…involving people with lived experience from the start.”
They added: “[the panel members] are not all one group… people have different lived experience and provenance.
“Many said that they want to give back, after the support they received when they arrived here.”
Those on the board were trained by council officials to advise on the grant distribution process and were invited to apply for the job regardless of their proficiency in English.
Highbury patch reporter, photographer, polyglot, student journalist specialising in political and social movement reporting.
My name is Abigail Glickman and I am a postgraduate journalism student at City St. George's, University of London. I have reporting experience from my college campus's newspaper in the US, my hometown's magazine in New York, and many more.