The Lipman-Miliband Trust is open for applications for the current round ending on 31 January 2024. In the current period we understand that you may not be able to predict when you may be able to run the project or do the work that you are proposing but please don’t let that stop you applying – we will still make awards and you can spend the money when it becomes possible to do so.
The Trust has limited resources and your application will be in competition with others so these guidelines are to help you be successful.
Read through the application form and its accompanying notes before you start to complete it. Make sure your project fits the remit of the Trust. As set out in the Trust’s constitution, the Trust funds projects that help support:
‘study and research into socialist ideas and practice and other allied fields and the dissemination of the results thereof to the public, and educational activities that raise public awareness and understanding of struggles and movements for peace, human rights and co-operation and a more equal, diverse, cooperative and democratic society.’
We have a broad interpretation of these aims but they are at the heart of what we do and you must demonstrate how your application fits in with them.
Answer question 10 on our form carefully and as specified. This will set the tone for your whole application and show us how focused you are on your objectives and outcomes.
Please write clearly and straightforwardly – remember that we probably won’t know you or your project and we can only make up our minds on what you tell us.
We are interested in applications that demonstrate clear engagement with their proposed audiences and that promote active outcomes. We would like your project’s audiences to be as large and as diverse as possible but we know that depends on your project. We fund small scale projects where audiences might necessarily be small but we want you to show us that you have worked at reaching out and engaging. We like big projects as well, of course.
We are looking for diversity in our applicants and in their projects. You may be an individual, a member of a small group or part of a larger organisation. You may be just getting going or well established. You may work in a university or for an NGO; you may be a volunteer or work freelance.
We are looking for the innovative. It can be hard to fund a new idea but we’re interested in yours. We will take a risk if you are taking one.
We will fund small parts of bigger projects. We are happy to add an extra dimension that would not otherwise get done.
Finally, we are looking for things that can have a lasting impact on the lives of individuals and their communities.
Socialist research and education can take many forms and cover many areas of activity so this list is not exhaustive or prescriptive. Convince us that your application fits our aims and we will be interested.
Publications: We have funded all sorts of print and digital publications including books and podcasts, magazines and zines.
Websites: We have supported groups building, rebuilding or expanding their websites, and making them more easily accessible.
Film and video: We have supported campaigning groups and NGOs seeking to reach a wider audience through films or wanting to work with communities in making their own videos.
Conferences: We have supported conferences that have aimed to generate new ideas or engage with new audiences. We want them to be open and politically dynamic. We will sometimes fund travel expenses to enable people to attend.
Educational events: we have supported a number of organisations putting on workshops and facilitating seminars.
Research projects: we are looking for projects that bring new ideas or reinvigorate long-standing socialist discussions. We like to see research that is participative and has a good strategy for dissemination. University-based projects should show how they engage with those beyond the institution’s walls.
Archives: we need to preserve working class and socialist histories that are so often ignored. We are looking for those projects that aim at engaging with the widest audiences, perhaps via a website, and that inspire for the future as well as preserving the past.
Art installations: we have funded street art and exhibitions where artists want to get a political message across and reach a wide audience.
Theatre productions: we have funded a number of theatre productions: small and large, local and national. We like to support productions that actively engage with their audiences and we are keen to see spin-offs like podcasts or education packs.
The list is a long one and there are plenty more that could be added. We have been around since 1974 but you can still surprise us: make us sit up and listen. We have never needed socialist ideas and education more than we do now.
The Lipman-Miliband Trust meets three times a year to consider applications. The deadlines for applications are 31 January, 31 May, and 30 September. Applicants are usually informed of the outcome of their application within eight weeks following the deadline date.