New Independent Human Rights Fund for Scotland

A new fund will help realise and defend rights, and tackle issues affecting people’s daily lives. The Fund will focus on people whose rights are most at risk. It will support people to use human rights as a tool for change.

The Fund is supported by a partnership of: AB Charitable Trust, The Baring Foundation, The Binks Trust, Cattanach, Corra Foundation, The Robertson Trust and William Grant Foundation. It is hosted by Corra Foundation.

The Robertson Trust is delighted to be a Founding funder of the new Fund, contributing £400,000 plus a share of running costs over the next three years.

Funding will:

• Enable organisations working in Scotland to close the gap between policy and practice, and the lived experience of people whose rights are most at risk.
• Help unlock the power of people, communities and organisations to name and claim their rights and hold duty bearers to account.
• Create conditions for a strong human rights sector in Scotland.

The Fund takes a participatory approach, reflecting the PANEL principles of Human Rights.

A combination of people with lived and learned expertise are part of guiding the Fund and making decisions about where money is spent. This combination of expertise will also help understand the learning that comes from the Fund, and how this can be used to further support human rights in Scotland.

Three grants have been made in the first stage of the Fund’s work:

• Starcatchers (£50,000 project funding over two years)
• Making Rights Real (£75,000 core funding over three years)
• Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland (£75,000 core funding over three years)

These reflect a range of powerful approaches to supporting people and communities to power social change and secure justice. Beyond these initial grants, the next stage will see the Fund open to applications in the Summer. Decision-making will be guided by people with a range of expertise, both lived and learned, on human rights.