Refugees and asylum seekers

The Rayne Foundation has a long history of supporting refugees and asylum seekers.

Why we prioritise this area

Over recent years, many have been displaced from their home countries because of conflict or persecution. A large number of those arriving in the UK are unaccompanied children. Refugees and asylum seekers face many challenges, and their unmet needs are great. Descended from refugees themselves, the Rayne family has a personal interest in giving them a positive future.

Important Notice

Following careful and detailed consideration, the Rayne Foundation has replaced its rolling, open grants programme with regular, targeted and time-limited calls in its priority areas. Read more

The Rayne Trust remains open to applications for work in Israel.

What we fund

We focus on opportunities that raise aspirations and add to the positive narrative about refugees’ contributions to society. This means we fund work that’s closely aligned with our criteria of doing things differently, enabling innovation and the potential for wider application.

We fund work that:

Creates significant new opportunities relating to employability, entrepreneurial endeavours and personal development for refugees and asylum seekers
Uses the arts and creativity to build community between migrants and the wider community

The Foundation has also made a number of grants to organisations providing specialist mental health support to people with experience of the asylum system, particularly young people. We will continue to support some of our existing grantee partners but are no longer seeking new applications in this area.

Funding criteria

The Rayne Foundation funds work that:

Is based on different thinking and enables innovation
Has potential for wider application beyond the funded proposal
Is informed by direct delivery and has a clear, positive impact on people’s lives
Can demonstrate match-funding contributions to the project
Enables and encourages collaboration between sectors and silos
Develops best practice and captures learnings to share with others
Adds to sector expertise and leadership

When assessing an application, we look for good ideas from which others can learn and that have lessons beyond the local. We believe that to contribute to lasting social change, we must support creative and collaborative approaches that build and test solutions to some of the most difficult challenges society faces, so we like to fund innovative projects that approach issues differently.

It’s important to us that the organisations we fund are outward-facing, networked, and actively seeking to collaborate. We believe this maximises the potential for learning to be shared and for our funding to have impact beyond the immediate grant.

For more detailed information on our application guidance, please visit the page linked below.

Applicant FAQ's

What do you fund, and what is the typical grant size?

The Rayne Foundation funds project and salary costs of usually £10,000 to £30,000 per year for up to three years. This is a guide, and we encourage you to talk to us if this grant size and duration doesn’t work for you.

We consider applications for core costs, but prefer to do so when we have an established relationship with the applicant, usually through previous project funding.

What types of organisations do you support?

We take an inclusive approach to eligibility and are open to receiving Expressions of Interest from voluntary, statutory, and not-for-profit organisations (including CICs and CIOs).

Statutory organisations need to consider how a grant from us will enable transformation over and above the funding required to deliver statutory obligations. For-profit organisations need to make the case that charitable funding is necessary to enable transformative change. We expect statutory and for-profit organisations to work collaboratively with the wider voluntary sector.

Which countries do you fund projects in?

The Rayne Foundation funds work in the UK relating to:

Quality of life for older people and their carers
Mental health of children and young people
Opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers

The Foundation doesn’t accept applications from individuals, or organisations working or based outside of the UK.

What projects do you NOT fund?

The Rayne Foundation doesn’t consider applications:

Outside our programme areas
That don’t meet our funding criteria
For day-to-day running costs of local organisations or buildings
For capital, equipment or vehicle appeals
For medical research
Exclusively focused on campaigning and lobbying work
For retrospective funding
For endowments
For individual use
From organisations who have applied and been rejected in the past 12 months

How do I apply for a grant?

We run a rolling, open grants programme with no deadline.

First, take our eligibility quiz . If the quiz indicates that you are a good match for us, submit an Expression of Interest (EOI). This gives us an initial understanding of your organisation and the work you would like us to fund.

Having assessed your EOI, the Grants Team may invite you to submit a full application, allowing us to gain a deeper understanding of your organisation’s work. When assessing this, we’re seeking to feel confident in your organisation’s ability to deliver the proposed work, and understand how you will evaluate it and capture any learning.

After assessing the full application, we may arrange a visit to your organisation. Following this, we will decide whether to take the application to our Board of Trustees for a decision.

What if I have access requirements?

We are very happy to discuss how we can best support you in submitting an application. Please contact us to share your access requirements.

Can I submit more than one application at a time?

No.

When can I expect to hear back?

When you’ve submitted an Expression Of Interest, you can expect a decision within 1 month as to whether your application will proceed further.

Assessment of the full application usually takes around 2 months, after which we will be in contact about our decision regarding a visit to your organisation.