We not only aim to redistribute money, but also power. In most cases its the people with money, or professionals often far removed from the communities they seek to benefit, who make the decisions. We believe this is both unjust and ineffective. We put decision-making power into the hands of people who are on the ground doing the work and who have lived experience of the issues they are working to solve. Decision-making is a collective process, and by bringing groups together we also hope to give people working on different issues the opportunity to make new contacts and learn from each other. 

Bristol Redistro process: 

1. We raise a minimum of £10,000

2. We invite people from previously funded groups to form a panel to shortlist the applications

3. We put a call out for applications from groups meeting the criteria

4. The panel shortlist the applications

5. We fundraise to cover any shortfall, i.e. if the panel shortlists 12 groups but we only have money for 10

6. Shortlisted groups are invited to come together for a day to make new connections and learn from each other

It has not happened yet, but if we are unable to raise the money to cover the shortfall we may then use a process similar to one that Edge Fund designed, which involves all the shortlisted groups coming together to get to know each other’s work and then a simple voting process at the end to decide how the money is shared out. All groups receive some money, though some may get more than others. You can find out more about the Edge Fund process in this short video.