Locality
Locality is the national network that brings together people to transform lives and improve the place they live. Its 2,000 members are local community organisations, often in the most disadvantaged areas, who create connections and provide vital services – from food banks to community centres, affordable housing projects to youth clubs.
As Locality’s chief executive, Tony Armstrong, says: “Our work is the antidote to despair – we inspire hope and generate resilience, pride and opportunity.”
Rooted in local areas, Locality members counter the extremism and toxic narratives that erode trust and pit neighbours against one another. “The only way to combat division is to connect people, building bridges in communities rather than putting up walls,” he says.
Locality, which previously partnered with the Guardian in its Cost of Living Crisis 2022 charity appeal, will use its share of this year’s donations to award grants to selected local projects and to support its work to help more community organisations tackle division and hate.
According to Armstrong, “Locality has a proud record of supporting local heroes to transform lives and create hope. Strong communities are the beating heart of a fairer society.”
The Linking Network
Two Bradford schools came together in 2001 with a shared belief: that children thrive when they have opportunities to meet and learn alongside peers from different backgrounds. They wanted to create meaningful ways for young people to explore what makes them unique, all that they share, and gain the skills to connect with one another.
The result was Schools Linking, which paired schools to enable pupils from different faiths, cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds to spend time together and discover what they had in common, giving children opportunities to develop curiosity, confidence and understanding through shared joyful experiences.
Over the past two decades, the charity has expanded nationally through a network of locally rooted partners in 26 local authority areas, including Bristol, Cardiff, Leicester, Luton and Newcastle. Led by teachers and supported by galleries, theatres and outdoor centres, the aim is simple but profound: to reduce prejudice, challenge stereotyping and build meaningful connections across all forms of difference. Guardian appeal donations will help The Linking Network develop and expand its work.
“We know how easy it is for any of us to slip into believing stereotypes, or to remain in our comfort zones rather than seeking out people who seem different to us and exploring what we have in common,” the charity says.
Citizens UK
“We were founded on the principle that everyday people have power. And that by bringing together people across their differences we can find common ground and make change,” says Matthew Bolton, the chief executive and lead organiser of Citizens UK.
Founded more than 30 years ago, Citizens UK has grown into Britain’s biggest “people-powered alliance” made up of 18 regional chapters. Best-known for its living wage campaign, its other projects include refugee welcome, voter registration and hundreds of local initiatives aimed at achieving change on the issues that matter locally, from housing to zebra crossings.
Its share of Guardian appeal donations will be invested in a Power-Building Fund to train community leaders and organisers with the skills and confidence to harness the collective power of communities across the UK to campaign for change.
“Real change doesn’t start in Westminster; it starts in community centres, schools and places of worship. It begins when people realise they don’t have to accept the world as it is, and start imagining the world as it could be,” says Bolton. “We’re not just running campaigns; we’re building a movement rooted in dignity, relationships and hope.”
Who is Your Neighbour?
This small South Yorkshire charity holds facilitated group dialogue in communities allowing people to speak openly about the impact of change, and issues that can be difficult to talk about, such as cultural differences, immigration and the communal sense of loss that came from the decline of traditional industries.
These group conversations are facilitated in a way that encourages thoughtfulness and curiosity, with participants and facilitators reflecting on their attitudes to the changes being experienced.
“Empathy builds empathy” is at the heart of Who is Your Neighbour? “People being heard, being taken seriously, their experience being valued, is a basis for deepening empathy. Empathy, together with thoughtful curiosity, can help us all work out how we live together with changes we are experiencing in a time when divisive and dehumanising narratives abound and threaten communities,” it says.
Who is Your Neighbour? shares what it does through training and working alongside organisations in other areas of the country. Its share of the Guardian appeal donations will help the growth of this national development, enabling more of these conversations to happen in more places.
Hope Unlimited Charitable Trust
Hope Unlimited is a grant-giving charity supporting projects that challenge hate, promote mutual understanding and strengthen community relationships. It champions the work of hyper-local, grassroots organisations and initiatives whose expertise and success come from being created by and for the communities in which they are embedded.
There are huge gaps in existing funding schemes, meaning many of these small-scale, grassroots organisations are unable to access funding in a way that actually benefits their communities. Hope Unlimited wants to change this. “We recognise and support the importance of these organisations as being on the frontline of the fight against hateful and divisive narratives breaking down community fabric,” it says. “By funding what the community identifies as a priority, with flexibility to adapt to changing needs, we can support these brilliant initiatives to continue their work on their own terms.
Its share of Guardian appeal donations will fund local organisations and initiatives that bring people together, address community grievances, boost resilience to hateful and divisive narratives, and above all, build hope.
