Open Funding:
Funding Round Two.
We’re centring Black African and Caribbean knowledge and practice to advance food equity and justice across Lambeth & Southwark by funding Black local growers, researchers and food businesses.
In this round of funding, we will distribute £300k of grants. Max £30k per grant. Max 18-month* per grant. Deadline: 11:00am Weds 10 July 2025.
📃 You can download a template to prepare your responses here.
💻 You can sign up for the Black Food Fund Webinar here.
Note: Our 18-month maximum aligns with the length of our current funding which runs until March 2027. This can be discussed further for those funding PhDs.
What.
Within this, we are currently funding work by:
growers and those pushing for food sovereignty.
This includes land owners, community farmers, small-scale farmers, organic farmers, urban gardeners, foragers, food justice activists, community-supported agriculture, practitioners focused on traditional food systems etc.those who design, deliver and disseminate research.
This includes individuals conducting qualitative research, public health research, community-led research, nutritional science, epidemiology, and food systems research, as well as dietitians and nutritionists, food policy analysts, those designing food-based health initiatives, social media educators, and researchers evaluating food-based health initiatives, among others.consumer and community food suppliers and providers.
This includes those working on new formulations, everyday food and beverages, groceries, supermarkets, hospitality and catering, meal provision, pantries, farmers' market vendors etc.
Why.
Black people deserve food equity and justice.
Our current local food system is inequitable;
Access to healthy food is a luxury.
African and Caribbean food cultures aren't centred.
Health food products, policy and practice are often Eurocentric.
Black African and Caribbean food knowledge and practices offer us a pathway towards food equity and justice for Black people living in Lambeth & Southwark. Helping to push local businesses, funders and policymakers to ensure that Black realities are helping to create a food system that protects Black health in our boroughs.
Examples.
We’re open to funding any local work that centres Black African and Caribbean knowledge and practice to advance food equity and justice.
Examples of what we’d love to contribute to:
Community-led data, insights and research projects.
PhDs for Black people exploring African and Caribbean nutritional epidemiology.
Food reformulation or reclamation exploring and uplifting African and Caribbean ingredients and foods
African and Caribbean healthy food standards and supply chain quality management.
Farm-to-table restaurant owners, cafes or food courts centring African and Caribbean foods
Each grant can be for a maximum of £30k over a maximum of 1 year.
Who can apply.
To apply we ask that you are:
centring Black African and/or Caribbean knowledge, research, cultures and traditions
living and or doing a significant amount of work within Lambeth and/or Southwark.
deeply embedded in local Black communities.
Black-led, meaning 75% of the leadership team and decision-makers are:
Black African
Black British
Black Caribbean
or of Mixed Black Ethnicity.
Who is not eligible.
We welcome applications from anyone named in the ‘who can apply’ section.
Within this we are not able to fund anyone:
those not working or doing the majority of their work in Lambeth and/or Southwark
at or who is currently a trustee for Impact on Urban Health.
sitting on the Black Food Fund committee.
related to any member of the Black Food Fund committee.
related to the Black Food Fund fiscal host (currently Hello Brave and its subcontractors).
whose work does not offer any public benefit to the community.
who cannot be paid this funding into or does not have a UK bank account.
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Please note: you do not need to have a company or charity or CiC to apply. You only need to agree to pay any eligible taxes to HMRC.
How will decisions be made.
Decisions about who’ll receive funding will be made by the Black Food Fund committee. They will review all expressions of interest. When shortlisting we’ll be looking for evidence:
that there is a strong fit with what we want to fund.
that you're embedded in local Black communities.
that you have relevant experience and/or expertise.
that your work directly contributes to our long-term vision of food equity and justice for Black communities in Lambeth and Southwark. You can read more here.
During the shortlisting phase, each answer will be scored between 1 and 6. Scoring 1 would mean we couldn’t see any evidence. Scoring 6 would mean we could see a lot. Those scoring the highest will be considered. We’ll then make the final decision about who to invite based on the interest and agreement of the group.
The process and timelines.
👉🏾 Submit an expression of interest.
Tell us about how you want to use the funding, how it fits with what we’d like to fund, your relationships with Black communities, why you’re well-placed to do this work and how it fits with our long-term vision of food equity and justice for Black communities in Lambeth and Southwark.
By: 11:00am Weds, 10 July 2025.
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👉🏾 Find out if you’ve been shortlisted.
The committee will meet to shortlist applications using the eligibility criteria, clarity and evidence of fit in your expression of interest. You’ll find out if you’ve been successful and be invited to submit a funding proposal.
By: 11:00am Mon, 22 July 2025.
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👉🏾 Develop your funding proposal.
You’ll then put together your funding proposal. You will be able to talk to the committee and get feedback ahead of formally discussing your proposal with the committee.
From: Mon, 22 July 2025 to Mon, 2 September 2025.
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👉🏾 Discuss proposal with the committee.
You’ll meet with the whole committee, ideally in person, to share your proposal and discuss any questions you and we might have.
Ideally on either 9 September or 13 September.
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👉🏾 Hear if you've been funded.
The committee will meet to decide on which proposals they would like to fund based on the discussions they had with shortlisted applicants.
By 5pm Fri, 20 September 2025.
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👉🏾 Get contracted and receive your funding. (ASAP)
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👉🏾 Stay connected and share your progress. (TBC)
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PLEASE NOTE: The committee are still designing refining process and so some things detailed here may change. We’ll share more detail about the proposal process will be shared when you are shortlisted.
Get In Touch.
If you have any feedback or a question we haven’t answered please contact Tayo and Bella at hello@blackfood.fund. We’ll add any additional Q&A to the website.
If you have something you’d like us to fund, that doesn’t fit in this Open Funding Call, please let us know here. This will inform the next round of funding.