Siân joins Community Action Panel for fund supporting grassroots campaigners across the UK

We’re excited to announce that a member of our Grapevine team is part of a national panel assessing applications for funding that will support grassroots campaigning and community organising across the UK.

The Community Action Fund exists to help build power for long-lasting change in communities.

Eight people, plus two more on a big Zoom screen, smile for the camera as the panel gathers in London for a meeting.
Siân (fifth from left with long hair) smiles for a photo with the rest of the panel.

The Community Action Panel plays a key role in further designing and developing this fund and the selection process. The panel is currently working its way through 90 finalists spanning 29 issues in 42 different places spread around the country.

And our Connecting for Good community organiser Siân Lewis is bringing a Coventry/US perspective to deliberations alongside seven other organisers, activists and movement builders who make up the panel.

Siân’s social justice experience includes work on inclusivity, mental health and sexual misconduct while at university in North Carolina in the United States.

More recently at Grapevine she’s been busy helping build our movement to combat isolation and marginalisation in Coventry called Connecting for Good.

From supporting local people to tackle air pollution to creating spaces of belonging in city businesses, she relishes seeing how community organising builds strength in communities to win sustainable change.

A biography with white text on a black background next to an image of Sian - a young woman with light brown hair and a fringe.
Courtesy of the Civic Power Fund.

Siân says: “It is an absolute honour to be part of such an experienced and passionate team of individuals all working to make change in their communities.

“Stronger communities with empowered individuals are the heart of community organising.

“The opportunity to be able to learn about the amazing work being done across the country, to bring Grapevine’s ways of working into the mix and to help fund grassroots projects nationwide is incredible.”

Siân also hopes to bring learning back to inform her work on the Cov Cares Awards judging panel. Click this link to read more about these awards and why we helped co-found them this year.

The Community Action Fund will prioritise organisations led by people with lived experience of the injustice they are trying to overcome. It will provide flexible support to grassroots organisations building the power of their community and campaigning for change.

The final awards (on a sliding scale between £2,500 and £20,000) will be announced in May.

Click here to read more about Siân. Follow Grapevine’s community organisers in their weekly reflections on Medium. Learn more about Connecting for Good and how to get involved if you’re a Coventry local here.

About the Civic Power Fund.