Comic Relief has announced £3m for projects that tackle racial inequality amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The money has been made available through the Global Majority Fund, a partnership between Comic Relief, the National Emergencies Trust, Barclays and the Clothworkers Foundation.

Comic Relief stresses this is new funding and follows an initial £3.4m awarded in July through the Fund to support grassroots projects combating racial inequality.

It says that an “overwhelming response” from charities to its initial funding as well as evidence of racial inequality amid the pandemic led to an additional £2.95m being made available.

A total of £2.15m will be available to make and manage new investments, with the remaining £800,000 distributed to community groups.

Comic Relief is looking to recruit 10 to 15 new “intermediary technical partners” with the skills, expertise and networks to distribute and manage finding to local projects.

Current partners include the Development of Sporting Equals and Bawso, which provides grants to BAME-led organisations.

“Across the UK, communities experiencing racial inequality have been disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, which right now, is showing no end in sight,” said Comic Relief chief executive Ruth Davison.

“It’s a distressing time for many, and local projects closest to the communities they support need us to step up. We are delighted to be partnering with the National Emergencies Trust and The Clothworkers’ Foundation once again to provide millions more in funding and help more people through this incredibly difficult and uncertain time.”

Applications opened at 10am on 2 November and close on 30 November at midnight.

Nik Trivedi, director of Development at Sporting Equals, added: “It is fundamentally important to support the many micro and small Black and Asian organisations to navigate how they continue to support the vital work around community development, helping them plan, manage risk, and step up to the new ‘normal’.”

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