14 Years of Impact: The AFRIDAC Story

Writing the story of African Development and Advocacy Centre, AFRIDAC is not an easy one. As founder and Executive Director for 14 years, starting and growing a Black led charity in London is not the easiest of task. The Black community in the UK has faced years of institutional racism and discrimination which is well documented and reported. What is missing in the community is the capacity to identify the root causes of the issues and advocate about desired change.

Anniversaries offer an opportunity for reflection and retrospection. I want to share a few nuggets on the AFRIDAC journey reflecting on our challenges and lessons learnt over the years.

Passion, conviction and steadfastness. In 2011, David Cameron became Prime Minister, and the Tories were in power. It was the onset of the hostile immigration policy with a focus on tightening restrictions, particularly for non-EEA nationals, including introducing a points-based system, limiting access to family visas through income requirements, and restricting post-study work rights, all with the aim of reducing net migration to the UK. No Recourse to Public Fund (NRPF) policy acerbated the situation for many migrant families leading to poverty, family disintegration, unemployment, and deportation for some. AFRIDAC working with lived experienced migrants became a voice on issues that disproportionately affect the Black community and have grown stronger over the years. There was limited funding for several years as we were fuelled only by passion and conviction for social change.

Be Nimble and Strategic. With the shrinking funding opportunities in the UK, small charities must be strategic in planning and fundraising. In the early years we were excited to get small, short-term restricted grants that only catered for project activities. We realised the hard way that having such grants does not allow for sustainable growth without a core element to support staffing, overheads and unrestricted funds. Small charities should explore opportunities for core funding and long-term grant for sustainability.? Develop a business and strategic plan to better understand your funding needs and expenditure profile for the long-term. As a charity keep your operations simple. Do not lose sight of your core purpose and do not over complicate your processes.

Trusted organisation. Every charity has a core community they support. Find creative ways in engaging members of your community as volunteers, trustees and project co-production. An organisation that is trusted and accountable within its community will have a wider reach and support. The key goal of a charity is delivering a service that aligns with the need of the community. AFRIDAC have provided platforms like the African Men Safe Space (AMSS) and Black Women Safe Space (BWSS) based on listening to members of the community who were seeking a space to discuss issue that affects them without judgement.

Be your support system. As an afrobeat musician Asake sang ‘it is lonely at the top’. Being a founder and director of a global majority organisation is a very tough job, and you may need to rely on yourself on many occasions. Leading a small charity in the UK or anywhere else means you should be ready to multi-task by having the ability to fundraise, design fliers, take photos, do videos, prepare budgets, use spreadsheets and manage projects. There will be many days of working alone, writing proposals with little support, dealing with dwindling resources and responses from funders that your application has been unsuccessful. There is need to create an internal support system at an early stage before tapping into any trusted external support. Start-up charities grow organically from a few dedicated people and expanding in arithmetic progression to an army of volunteers and supporters.

Capacity or lack of it. Small charities are often accused of lacking in capacity to deliver services. This is not true! What some charities lack is the ability to evaluate their projects and showcase their impact. As an organisation we learnt this the hard way as many funders would want to see your track record and evidence of past activities. We have over the years built our capacity in monitoring and evaluation, this has helped us to demonstrate the impact of our projects to the community and funders. Another important element in managing a charity organisation is internal capacity building. An organisation is nothing without its volunteers and staff, so building their capacities should be a priority. As an organisation we have adopted using SWOT analysis and personal development plans to understand the needs and supporting internal capacity building. In supporting our community and building their capacity to advocate on issues with started the Community Advocacy and Mentoring Programme (CAMP); watch our evaluation and impact video. https://youtu.be/rTiBNE8p-gU?si=-2TNnTVKqip-tHcp.

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Collaborative working. Working in silos seems to be the norm in the charity sector until Covid happened. AFRIDAC has been able to harness and benefit from collaborating with other charities based on common interest. Being a member of an umbrella organisation like Community African Network (CAN) has helped in joint funding bids and stronger voice with local and national government. Partnership working can help critical asset building and creating an infrastructure organisation to support smaller charities.

As AFRIDAC celebrate another milestone as an organisation, we want to appreciate our volunteers, trustees, partners, funders, the Black community and all lovers of social change. To give you a glimpse of our impact as an organisation we want you to watch and share AFRIDAC promotional video. https://youtu.be/3a0qGLZIS0k?