Thousands of pounds raised for the four people who were prosecuted for their part in toppling the statue of Bristol slave trader Edward Colston - but never spent because they were acquitted - will be given to good causes in the city.
The ‘Bristol Topplers’ Defence Fund’ raised thousands of pounds in the 18 months between the time when a police investigation into the toppling of the statue in June 2020 and the trial and acquittal of the ‘Colston 4’ in December 2021 and January this year.
That money, which didn't include thousands raised by the sale of limited edition T-shirts created by Banksy - that went directly to the Colston 4 - paid for the four’s defence costs at the trial, with more set aside in case they were found guilty and fined.
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But the four - Rhian Graham, Milo Ponsford, Jake Skuse and Sage Willoughby - were cleared of criminal damage in January, so the fund was left with a total of £13,518.
The ‘Glad Colston’s Gone’ campaign, which raised the money and supported the four, announced earlier this month it would be donating the money to an organisation called Bristol Redistro, which for the past three years has raised money and distributed it to small-scale projects, charities, campaigns and good causes in the city.
Now, Bristol Redistro has announced how it will be redistributing the money, and is invited groups and organisations to apply for a share of the leftover Colston 4 money. A spokesperson for Bristol Redistro said: “Our next funding round is to redistribute the £13,518 remaining in the ‘Glad Colston’s Gone’ Bristol Topplers Defence Fund. This will be a special one-off round run by and for Bristol-based Black and Brown-led Racialised Groups.
“We encourage applications from groups from across Bristol who may not easily access mainstream funding streams,” they added. They said that the maximum amount any one group can apply for is £1,000. The deadline for applications is April 30, and those applications will be shortlisted during May with the announcement of who is to get a share of the money made after that.
“We started out in 2019 as a small group of people involved in community and political projects in Bristol who saw the need for money and resources to be redistributed more fairly,” the spokesperson added. “We wanted to find a way for local people to come together and pool their surplus wealth and for this to be used to support local groups facing inequality and injustice and working to create a just, equal and sustainable world.
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“Giving away money gives people a lot of power, so we also wanted to put the decision-making into the hands of the groups that apply rather than have people with money decide. For many reasons a minority of people have more money than they need to live on. If we’re in this position, we’re encouraged to hold onto that money for ourselves and our families, rather than use it for the benefit of others.
“This helps maintain our unequal and unjust society. We want to challenge this individual focus and to help build a culture where it’s normal to redistribute money and resources,” they added.
The first grant giving day happened on June 7, 2020 with £6,350 raised by the Redistro volunteers, shared out among seven groups who applied, and the organisation has continued raising and giving out money in this way every few months ever since.
Now, the one-off Colston 4 grant is the biggest grant distribution yet. A spokesperson for the Glad Colston’s Gone campaign said they had promised any leftover money would be donated to local black-led anti-racists and community groups.
“The crowdfunder covered worst-case legal scenarios, with the plan in place that ‘in the event there are funds remaining, they will be donated to local black-led anti-racist and community groups’.
“Bristol Redistro’s mission is to give grassroots groups the power to decide how the funds they distribute are used to create social change - their practice is in opposition to the controlling philanthropy of elites, such as Colston and the Society of Merchant Venturers,” they added.
To find out more about the criteria for applying for the money and how to do it, click here.
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