Form

Factsheet

Published 20 September 2022

This form was withdrawn on 16 March 2023

This guidance is out of date and has been withdrawn.

1. About the Community Engagement Fund

The Community Engagement Fund provides funding to charities, community organisations and/or grassroots organisations to engage communities and raise awareness of priority Home Office policies. The fund is offered by the Home Office.

The purpose of the Community Engagement Fund 2022 to 2023 is to:

a. Raise awareness of the Windrush Compensation and Windrush Documentation Schemes with a focus on non-Caribbean communities and encourage them to apply to these Schemes.

And/or

b. Build on the insights and learning taken from our existing work on Windrush (for example the Windrush Community Fund and Windrush national communications campaigns) to understand:

1. why individuals are not applying for the Windrush Compensation Scheme and/or the Windrush Scheme (Documentation)

2. and how to encourage eligible individuals to apply to these Schemes.

The guidance for applicants provides all the information you need to know to submit an application.

2. Types of projects / events we will fund

The activities the Community Engagement Fund may include, but are not limited to:

Holding or facilitating small-scale engagement groups and/or 1:1 engagement: 1:1 informal ‘interviews’ to understand impacted individuals’ experience and views in a safe and confidential space. This set up will enable a safe space, with affected communities or individuals to speak freely about their experience. Feedback from these events should help the organisations and the Home Office to better understand why individuals may be hesitant to apply, determine what more can be done to encourage people to apply and support them, and determine if there are still pockets of individuals who have been impacted by the scandal and entitled to documentation or compensation but have not yet come forward.

Targeted outreach and activities with communities and individuals from nationalities other than the Caribbean who may have been affected by their inability to prove their lawful status in the UK, with a particular focus on Nigeria, Ghana, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

Themed events hosted by grassroots organisations: These events could be hosted by grassroots organisations to share their learning on the impact of Home Office funded programmes, having worked closely with Windrush communities as part of the Windrush Community Fund. These events could also include representatives from We Are Digital, the independent free claimant assistance provider for the Home Office to raise their profile and build trust.

Securing support from corporate partners, public or prominent figures or advocates.

3. Differences between the Windrush Community Fund, the Windrush Scheme (documentation) and the Windrush Compensation Scheme

The Windrush Community Fund was a £500,000 fund to enable community, grassroots and charitable organisations to promote and increase awareness of the Windrush Scheme (documentation) and Windrush Compensation Scheme.

The Windrush Scheme (documentation) was launched in May 2018 to help people who were not able to prove their right to live and work in the UK, obtain a document to prove their lawful status.

The Windrush Compensation Scheme was launched in April 2019 to ensure that members of the Windrush generation and their families are properly compensated for the losses and impacts they have suffered, as a result of not being able to demonstrate their lawful status.

4. The role of the Windrush Compensation Scheme claimant assistance provider

The Windrush Compensation Scheme claimant assistance provider provides free, independent advice and support to those making a compensation claim.

The Home Office has paid for an independent claimant assistance provider who can help individuals to establish if they are eligible and then apply to the Windrush Compensation Scheme for free. Their name is ‘We are Digital’. Their freephone number is: 0808 196 8496.

We Are Digital we will help you fill out your application to ensure you have all the paperwork needed, ensuring no information will be missed, and everything is correct before your application is submitted.

Alternatively, you may check your eligibility.

5. Apply for funding

To apply, download the application form and guidance for applicants and return completed forms by email

6. Deadline for applications and what happens next

• The Community Engagement Fund is open for applications from 20 September 2022. Please submit your application to the Windrush engagement mailbox by 21 October.

• The applications will be assessed against a set of criteria found in the guidance for applicants. Assessments will be made by the Windrush Engagement Team in the Home Office, who will inform all applicants of the final decision. Successful applicants will be contacted by the Home Office with a grant offer letter and terms and conditions of the grant.

7. Amount of funding available

• The Community Engagement Fund 2022 to 2023 is for a total of £150,000.

• The minimum amount of funding you can apply for is £5,000 and the maximum amount of funding you can apply for is £10,000.

8. Projects with a value exceeding £10,000

• Projects may have a total value above £10,000. However, the total amount of funding provided by the Home Office will not exceed £10,000.

• Applications proposing projects of a value higher than £10,000 will need to demonstrate where their additional source of funding will come from. Evidence of this will be required on the application form.

9. Lengths of projects

• This fund is best suited to support short and easy-to-deliver projects, rather than a programme of work, as all allocated funds need to be spent within the financial year (by 31 March 2023).

• The time taken to deliver your projects starts from the date you receive the funding.

• We would like to encourage projects to start preparing for activities as soon as they receive their funding. This will allow you to deliver activities before the end of March 2023.

10. Home Office engagement events

• Engagement and outreach have been a core part of our response to the Windrush issue since the Windrush Taskforce (now known as the Windrush Help Team) was established in April 2018 to help people secure the documentation they need to evidence their lawful status and to raise awareness of the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

• Over 200 engagement and outreach events (120 of which were one to one surgeries on documentation) were held across the UK, reaching thousands of individuals and a Windrush national communications campaign has reached over 15 million individuals.

• We continue to hold regular dialogue with stakeholders and recognise the importance of trusted stakeholders holding engagement activities with communities on the Home Office’s behalf, to really plug any further gaps.

11. Promotional events for potential applicants

• The Windrush Engagement team will hold information sessions on 22 September at 11am to 1pm and 29 September at 3pm to 5pm which will inform and support those who are interested in applying for the Community Engagement Fund. Anyone interested in joining a session should email windrushengagement@homeoffice.gov.uk. (Please note you need only attend one of these sessions.)

12. Timescale for funding to be received

• Successful applicants can expect to receive their funding by the end of November 2022.

• You will also receive grant terms and conditions and the schedule of payments. An initial payment will be made in advance of the work you begin on your project.

13. Project activity monitoring

• The Windrush Engagement team will work with all successful applicants to ensure that appropriate monitoring procedures are in place to chart the success of their project. This could include, for example, the number of people your project engaged and the benefits those people received because of your engagement.

14. Eligible costs

• Funding can only be used to cover costs related to project delivery. It may not be used to cover general day to day costs of running your organisation, including core running costs and salaries for existing permanent staff (unless associated with the Community Engagement Fund project).

15. Geographical scope

• The Community Engagement Fund is open for applications from community and grassroots organisations based in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The funding can be used for activities across the UK.

16. Assessment process

• Applications will be assessed by the Windrush Engagement team in the Home Office against the criteria specified in the guidance for applicants.

17. Funding is not limited to organisations working with groups with Caribbean heritage

• We recognise that the injustices faced by the Windrush generation are not limited to those of Caribbean heritage, and some people who came to the UK from across the Commonwealth – and beyond – may have experienced similar difficulties. That is why the Windrush Compensation Scheme and Windrush Scheme (documentation) are not limited to those individuals who came to the UK from the Caribbean.

• We encourage applications from a range of eligible groups who wish to raise awareness of and promote the Windrush Scheme (documentation) and the Windrush Compensation Scheme to communities including those wider than the Caribbean.

• Further information on the eligibility criteria for the Windrush Scheme (documentation) and Windrush Compensation Scheme can be obtained from https://windrush.campaign.gov.uk/

18. Funding cannot be granted to individuals

• The Community Engagement Fund is open to community organisations and grassroots organisations. Unfortunately, we are unable to accept applications from individuals. If as an individual you are interested in making an application, we recommend that you join a group in order to meet the eligibility criteria.

19. Funding cannot be granted directly to local authorities

• The Community Engagement Fund is open for community organisations and grassroots organisations. Unfortunately, we are unable to accept applications from local authorities. However, we welcome applications from community and grassroots organisations who have experience of working with local authorities to deliver community-based projects. If this applies to you, please do provide that information in your application.

20. How we handle your data

• All data will be handled in accordance with GDPR regulations. Your data will not be shared with anyone else in the Home Office without your consent.

Home Office GDPR Privacy Note

21. Consortium bids (group of organisations)

• There is no limit on the number of organisations that can be involved in a consortium bid. However, there is a maximum limit on the amount a bid can request which is £10,000.

• The lead organisation for a consortium bid must be a charity, community group or grassroots organisation and the lead organisation must make the application.

22. Producing your own marketing material for the raising awareness events, both online and for personal distribution (for example leaflets)

• You are free to produce your own materials. You must share your drafts with the Home Office so we can provide advice or clarification on any policy or eligibility points so that only accurate information is shared with the public.

• If you intend to use the Home Office logo as part of your material, you must seek Home Office approval first.

23. Applications received after the closing date

• We will not be able to consider late applications as we are running to a tight schedule. We would encourage applications to be submitted 2-3 days before the closing date to allow time for teams to contact applicants should they need to clarify anything in the application form.

24. Eligibility to offer immigration services or advisory services for individuals impacted by Windrush who are applying to the Windrush Schemes

• The Home Office has paid for an independent claimant assistance provider who can help individuals to establish if they are eligible and then apply to the Windrush Compensation Scheme for free. Their name is ‘We are Digital’. Their freephone number is: 0808 196 8496.

• We Are Digital we will help you fill out your application to ensure you have all the paperwork needed, ensuring no information will be missed, and everything is correct before your application is submitted.

• Alternatively, you may check your eligibility.

• Organisations’ project proposal must clearly show how they will work to avoid a conflict of interest, for example if they have immigration services they can’t refer CEF beneficiaries only to their own service - they must give them a list of all proper immigration advice services that the beneficiary can choose from.

25. Eligibility for the Windrush Schemes

• If you’re settled in the UK but do not have a document to prove it, you may be eligible to apply to the ‘Windrush Scheme’.

• You may be able to apply for a document to prove you can live and work in the UK if one of the following is true:

• you came to the UK from a Commonwealth country before 1973

• your parents came to the UK from a Commonwealth country before 1973

• you came to the UK from any country before 31 December 1988 and are now settled here

Windrush Scheme: get a document showing your right to be in the UK

26. Compensation where someone passes away before their application is completed

• The scheme permits claims to be made by the estate of a deceased person who would have met one of the eligibility criteria as the primary claimant. To obtain an award you must demonstrate that the deceased person met the eligibility criteria and that they personally experienced a direct loss or impact because of their difficulties demonstrating their lawful right to stay in the United Kingdom. To make a claim, you should use the Deceased Estate Claim Form.

Windrush Compensation Scheme: claim forms and guidance

To see the latest update to the guidance for close family members, see Windrush Compensation Scheme: full rules.

27. Validating or proving status if you don’t have any documents

• The Windrush Help Team are on hand to help guide individuals through the process of confirming their status.

• We understand that individuals will often not have retained documents over several decades. The Help Team will work with individuals to build up a picture of their arrival and time spent in the UK using the information that is available. Documents that are helpful to us in doing this can include passports, travel documents, birth certificates, school records, National Insurance number and household bills. The team will also work with other Government departments to obtain relevant data that helps to fill in the picture of an individual’s life in the UK

28. Limits to payments under the Compensation Scheme

• There is no cap or limit on the amount of compensation an individual can receive.

• Under the loss of access to employment category, individuals will be compensated for the full period they were unable to access employment because they could not demonstrate their lawful status.

• Through their employment awards, individuals will recuperate the contributions they would have made into an occupational pension scheme at the time.

29. Individuals who are still overseas

• The Windrush Help Team can and do work to support people that are currently overseas. Anyone who is currently overseas and believes that they may be eligible for support can contact the Windrush Help Team by email at commonwealthtaskforce@homeoffice.gov.uk and request a phone call back.

• Individuals may still apply for documentation of their status under the Windrush Scheme if they are overseas. The Help Team can guide anyone who believes they may be eligible through this process.

30. Timescale for the Home Office to process an application for citizenship or compensation

• The Windrush Help Team aims to complete the decision-making process within two weeks of all the evidence being gathered. Usually this will be from the point that biometrics are taken, although in some cases further evidence is supplied by the applicant or other sources after this point. Therefore, some decisions will fall outside these timescales.

• For applications made under the Windrush Compensation Scheme, this is more difficult to give a definitive timescale due to the complexity of the cases. However, we are working to reduce the time to offer.

31. Difficulties in copying and scanning documents required by the Home Office

• We encourage anyone who is having difficulties copying and scanning large numbers of documents to get in touch with the Windrush Help Team. The Team will do what they can to support individuals through the process and to advise them on the best way to gather and submit relevant information. Their freephone number is 0800 6781925.

We will update this document regularly.