Actions Beyond the Hashtags
From shifting the power in our funding streams, to supporting black-led projects and better representation across our TV appeals, we hope to generate meaningful conversations that turn into positive actions as we listen, learn and grow.
Over the course of the last year Comic Relief have been staging events that tackle these issues head on, video recordings of these events can be found below.
Rethinking the Funding Landscape: Adapting and Thriving Post-covid
Tune in as this expert panel discuss how international Civil Society Organisations want to be supported post-pandemic and how development partners can use their resources and platforms to keep organisations at the centre of development programming and priority setting.
Actions Beyond the Hashtag: In Conversations with Lenny Henry and June Sarpong
Award-winning journalist and broadcaster Charlene White moderates a special discussion with Lenny Henry and June Sarpong on diversity and representation in the creative sectors.
Actions Beyond the Hashtag: Sema Stori Preview
An exclusive first look at three new African-led films produced through Comic Relief’s Sema Stori Initiative, delivered in partnership with Docubox, East Africa's only film funder, owned and run by African filmmakers.
Black led film-making
Over the last 2 years, Comic Relief and DocuBox launched a project that supported 10 East African filmmakers to create films about issues they care passionately about - stories that might not otherwise be told. One year on, we proudly present Sema Stori - meaning Stories that Speak in Swahili. The filmmakers we have worked with are changemakers, exploring important social issues through the eyes of local communities, and their films have sparked conversation within Comic Relief and inspired us to explore ways of telling more nuanced, more accurate and more insightful stories about life on the African continent. We hope they will have a similar impact within the lives and communities of all those who see these important films.
Supporting & promoting local Photographers
Since late 2018 with the rise of social media platforms as a way for artists to promote themselves, we have increasingly been able to source and commission some phenomenal and talented photographers from within Africa to work alongside our teams on the ground, helping to shine a light on local issues through a local lens. With help from resources like Everyday Africa Photoblog and the African Photojournalism Database, our photography is more connected and authentic than ever. We have made a commitment to always use local talent, ensuring these opportunities are awarded to photographers within the country where possible. Moving forward we will continue to develop and evolve our photography while empowering local people to tell their own stories.
COMIC RELIEF DELIVERS £3.4 MILLION For PROJECTS WORST-HIT BY COVID-19
Hundreds of small grass roots charitable projects across the UK are set to benefit from a new £3.4 million fund from Comic Relief, which aims to help vulnerable communities by supporting Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) projects struggling to continue their services because of the pandemic.
When Covid-19 Meets Racial Inequality
Across the UK, communities experiencing racial inequality have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus and these communities need urgent support. Read about how Comic Relief is working to ensure that organisations led by these communities have better access to meaningful funding, now and in the long-term.