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Are you acting with other campaigners, activists and community organisers in Birmingham to change and transform systems that harm people, cause injustice and further economic inequalities? Would a grant of up to £50,000 over two years help you act to make lasting change a reality? Our Economic Justice Brum Act to Change fund might be for you! Find out more.

We’re recruiting a Director of Programmes and Learning 

Our current Director of Programmes is leaving and we are recruiting a Director of Learning and Programmes to join our Executive Team. This is a rare opportunity for an inspirational leader of programmes and learning, adept at strategic thinking and with a passion for our vision and mission, to join us.

As Director of Programmes and Learning, you will guide and support our programme team as they design and deliver ambitious programmes that build power in communities and drive systemic change. They will oversee our grant-making, ensuring that processes remain robust and transparent. A crucial part of the role will be to ensure that learning and evaluation from across our programmes is gathered, shared and used to influence wider change.

We are seeking a senior leader who shares our ambition for long-term change and who brings experience of programme leadership, grant-making and advocacy.

Starting Salary: £99,013.  Full-time role with hybrid working with at least two days office-based.  Barrow Cadbury Offices are located in Vauxhall, London.

Find out more about the role and how to apply on our recruiting partner Green Park’s micro site.

Closing date: Sunday 5 October 2025

Closing Date for Submissions:        September 15 2025
Interview date:                                 September 25 2025 in Birmingham
Contact for Queries: Debbie Pippard, Director of Programmes or Diana Ruthven, Head of Communications
[email protected]
[email protected]

1. Introduction

We all need safe affordable housing, nourishing food, access to good jobs, sustainable healthcare and reliable public services. The way our economy works at the moment is failing too many people. The gap between rich and poor is growing and it’s getting more and more difficult for people to move out of poverty. Where you are born, your social class, your racial identity and your gender have a big impact on your chances of financial security and wellbeing. This is economic injustice – that financial wellbeing and life chances are affected by who people are and the context in which they live, not just their individual choices.

Barrow Cadbury Trust is an independent charity using all its resources for social justice.  Its Economic Justice programme is focussed on Birmingham where it is using its financial, convening capacity, and reputation to facilitate the growth of a movement for a fairer economy: Economic Justice Brum.  We believe that economic justice will be achieved when:

  • Everyone in Birmingham has sufficient material resources to have a fulfilling, sustainable life free from concerns about meeting basic needs.
  • Structural barriers to achieving a sustainable life resulting from an individual’s race, disability, gender, other protected characteristics and class are overcome.
  • People at risk of or experiencing economic injustice are able to influence decisions about the local economy

Over the past two years we have brought together individuals, community groups, activists, researchers, and policymakers to co-create solutions that promote fairness, inclusion, and sustainability in the local economy. Our work is rooted in the principles of equity, justice, and the leadership of those most affected by economic injustice. Our convening is complemented by our grant-making, where we are using our resources to grow the personal power and influence of people living in precarious financial circumstances; to support organisations campaigning for change; and to fund examples of what a fairer, more democratic and inclusive local economy could be.

In Economic Justice Brum, we have built a network of over 100 individuals and organisations, created a website and established presences on LinkedIn and BlueSky.  We are now looking for a consultant to help us develop and accelerate our communications to extend our reach and increase our impact.

2. Scope of Work

The Communications Consultant will be expected to:

  • Use the EJB outline communications strategy already developed to create a rolling three month and annual workplan, ensuring it is aligned with our goals and values.
  • Work closely with the Head of Economic Justice (Birmingham) and the Head of Communications to ensure the EJB communication strategy, plan and objectives remain aligned with those of BCT itself.
  • Work closely with people with both lived and learned experience of economic injustice, particularly those also impacted by racial, gender, and disability inequalities, to enable them to grow their skills and create their own authentic and impactful content.
  • Create compelling content for digital and print platforms, including social media, newsletters and potentially podcasts. We envisage that much of our content (blog series, podcasts etc) will be created through stand-alone projects led either by the consultant or by other partners and profiling movement members, in particular those living with the ill effects of economic injustice.
  • Make the best use of our strong branding to increase awareness and understanding of Economic Justice Brum.
  • Set up and manage a system for monitoring analytics and success metrics.

3. Deliverables

  • Fully worked up communications workplan.
  • Sufficient new content on social media and the website to keep it live and engaging
  • Quarterly monitoring of engagement with communications content, with adjustment of the workplan accordingly
  • Co-ordinating a minimum of two longer projects per year co-created with people with lived experience via a partner agency, such as a blog, podcast or video series.
  • Other co-created content developed in collaboration with people with lived experience, with attention to racial, gender, and disability justice.
  • A continuous cycle of learning and refinement using analytics and success metrics to test engagement with content.

4. Duration and Budget

  • We anticipate that we will need an average of 50-60 days per year, though this will ebb and flow and may increase as the movement builds. It is likely that flexibility is needed across the week though we expect to reach an agreement about working patterns that suits both parties.
  • This is intended to be a long-term relationship with an initial contract period of two years. The role will commence as soon as possible upon appointment.
  • We expect to pay a day rate of £250-300 (including VAT and local travel) depending on the qualifications and experience of the consultant. There will be separate budget available for other project related expenses.

5. Key relationships

  • Your main contact will be our Head of Economic Justice (Birmingham) and you will work closely with her on development and delivery of the workplan. Our Head of Communications has oversight of all communications activity across the Trust so you will work with her to ensure consistency and appropriateness of content.

6. Consultant Requirements

We are looking for a consultant with:

  • Proven experience in strategic communications, preferably in the non-profit or social justice sector.
  • Excellent writing, editing, and storytelling skills.
  • Familiarity with Birmingham’s social and economic landscape and the ability to attend meetings in Birmingham if required.
  • Demonstrated commitment to equity, inclusion, and justice, particularly in relation to race, gender, and disability.
  • Experience working collaboratively with people with lived experience of injustice.
  • Strong project management and reporting capabilities.

7. Submission Requirements

Interested consultants should submit:

  • A cover letter outlining your suitability and approach.
  • CV or company profile.
  • Examples of relevant work, especially involving co-created content and justice-focused communications.
  • Your expectations around day rate.
  • Contact details for two references.
  • Demonstrated commitment to racial, gender, and disability justice, and to co-production with people with lived experience.

8. Submission Instructions

Please send your proposal to [email protected] by midday, September 15 2025. Interviews will be held in Birmingham on 25 September 2025.

Fair4All Finance and WPI Economics have launched a report titled Financial inclusion and growth. The report sets out how financial inclusion can be a core part of achieving the UK Government’s growth mission.

The report looks at three key areas; savings, car insurance and better financial wellbeing, and argues that greater financial inclusion in these areas leads to increased growth.

In the case of car insurance, removing the poverty premium would generate an extra £369 million per year for the UK economy. Over the course of this Parliament, UK GDP would be £1.5 billion higher as a result.

This report follows the recent launch of Fair By Design’s new position paper week titled Driving Change: Policy Ideas to Tackle the Car Insurance Poverty Premium.

Fair By Design’s Director, Rebecca Deegan, said:  

“The new analysis by Fair4All finance is further evidence that investing in financial inclusion is good for people and good for the economy.

“Too many people are excluded or are charged more for essentials, paying a poverty premium because of factors they cannot control, such as where they can afford to live. 

“For instance, people living in deprived areas can pay over £300 more on car insurance per year than those living in more affluent areas. But as this new research shows, tackling the poverty premium in car insurance can grow the economy by hundreds of millions of pounds per year.  

“This should be a no-brainer. This is growth that puts money back into people’s pockets. We urge the Government to be bold as it develops the Financial Inclusion Strategy over summer, and include concrete actions to reduce poverty premiums in insurance and credit.”

Fair By Design is looking for a Public Affairs Manager to lead its engagement with political stakeholders, regulators, and industry bodies to influence policy and regulatory change. Fair By Design puts people with lived experience at the heart of what it does and strives to leave a legacy where being inclusive in the design of policy, regulation and services is the norm.

Full-time fixed term contract of 3 years with the possibility of renewal.

Find out more on our Vacancies page.

This new report from British Future and the Belong Network describes a combination of social tensions and grievances – including polarisation and division, concerns about asylum and immigration, declining political trust, economic pessimism and worries about the impact of social media. The authors warn that unrest risks being reignited unless urgent action is taken.

They also identify some strong foundations on which to build, including public confidence in cohesion at neighbourhood level and numerous examples of impactful work across the UK to empower communities, build shared identities and strengthen relationships between people from different backgrounds.

The report is a foundational input to the new Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion, chaired by Sir Sajid Javid and Jon Cruddas, which convened for the first time in June 2025.

The Foundation Practice Rating (FPR) is an objective assessment of UK-based charitable grant-making foundations. It looks at foundations’ practices in three key areas – diversity, accountability, and transparency.

The 2024/25 findings show gradual improvements in the sector, with progress across all three categories. However, diversity remains the weakest area, with no foundations receiving an A rating.

The report assessed 100 foundations, with some of the smallest outperforming the largest. Of concern was that 21 of the foundations assessed had no website, making it difficult for applicants to access crucial information. Indeed, none of the 12 foundations that scored a D in all three domains had a website, further highlighting accessibility challenges within the sector.

The FPR was initiated in 2021 by Friends Provident Foundation and is funded by a group of UK grant-making foundations, including Barrow Cadbury Trust.   This year, the ‘Funders Group’ includes: Friends Provident Foundation, City Bridge Foundation, John Ellerman Foundation, Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Indigo Trust, Robertson Trust, and John Lyon’s Charity.

For more information, visit foundationpracticerating.org.uk where you can download a copy of the 24/25 report.

 

 

 

We are recruiting a Learning Partner for Barrow Cadbury Trust’s Economic Justice Programme

 The Opportunity in Summary

We wish to appoint a new Learning Partner to our Economic Justice (Birmingham) Programme, to track learning outcomes for the period to the end of March 2027, supporting us and us and our partners to learn from and iterate the programme as we go along so it has maximum impact. We are looking for something more than a standard evaluation: we hope that our learning partner will walk alongside us and our partners as we deliver the programme, learning with us about what works, reflecting on how we approach systems change, and helping us collectively to achieve maximum benefit over the lifetime of the programme and beyond. The following document covers the background to the programme and our Learning Framework, our intended outcomes, and provides an overview of the detail required in any proposal submitted.

We expect the Learning Partner to:

  • Have a creative, constructive approach to learning;
  • Be based in Birmingham;
  • Demonstrate a broad competence and understanding of DEI practice; and,
  • Be prepared to operate in an engaging, collaborative, innovative manner with the different groups within the EJB movement.

We will shortlist up to three potential Learning Partners to present their proposals in person in Birmingham on 9 April.

Apply to Debbie Pippard, Director of Programmes, Barrow Cadbury Trust [email protected].

The deadline for receipt of applications is 09.00 on 3 April 2025. We expect the selected partner to start work in April 2025.

Please take a look at the brief, for more information.

 

Offensive Weapons Homicide Reviews are unlikely to save young adult lives finds a new Centre for Crime and Justice Studies report. A new duty to review homicides involving offensive weapons is unlikely to achieve its aim of reducing weapons-enabled homicides, whatever else it may accomplish, the report says.

Offensive Weapons Homicide Reviews (OWHRs) were introduced by the previous Conservative Government in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. Their stated purpose is to help national and local agencies understand the causes of serious violence and prevent future weapons-enabled homicides.

The report by Dr Susie Hulley and Dr Tara Young, published by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, examines the potential benefits and risks of this new duty, particularly its impact on young adult safety. The authors analysed evidence about existing homicide reviews, such as Domestic Violence Homicide Reviews, which have been in operation for several decades. Homicide reviews, they argue, are not without merit. The research found that reviews can offer additional, important information about what happened, not least of all to a victim’s family and friends. However, the report finds that the recommendations from homicide reviews are frequently not acted upon, raising serious concerns about whether the learning from these cases is being effectively implemented – particularly given the lack of statutory duty or resources to do so.

If, after the pilot, OWHRs are rolled out nationally, the report provides recommendations that could mitigate some of the identified risks of existing homicide reviews, including for a publicly accessible national database of findings and recommendations. However, the authors conclude that OWHRs are unlikely to prevent weapon-enabled homicides involving young adults, and urge the Government to put well-evidenced interventions that reduce serious violence at the forefront of its approach to serious violence.

Authors of the report, Dr Susie Hulley and Dr Tara Young said:

“In light of these findings and the government’s ambitious target to halve knife crime over the next decade, we urge the Government to reconsider the cost effectiveness of a national rollout of OWHRs, and to instead focus on well-evidenced interventions that reduce serious violence and support young adults to flourish.”

Helen Mills, Head of Programmes at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, said:

“If OWHRs are rolled out this report highlights important learning about how they can best work. However, we have some scepticism about whether this is the right approach. Clear evidence already exists about how to best prevent and respond to serious violence, and that the particular needs of young adults are often overlooked. Yet good practice remains frustratingly fragmented, and lacking the long-term sustainable funding it needs.

 

 

“My washing machine and hoover both went within a week of each other. I applied for a credit card, but that was rejected due to whatever I didn’t have in the bank. If you go with the catalogues, you’re paying huge interest – it’s poor quality and you’re paying more for it.” Lived experience contributor, Give Me Some Credit.

Fair By Design has launched its latest project, an online gallery titled Give Me Some Credit: The Reality of Life Without a Safety Net. You can view the online exhibition here.

For the past year Fair By Design has worked with The Poverty Alliance , Scotland’s network of organisations and individuals working together to end poverty, on this project to show what it is like to have no access to affordable credit.

Fair By Design brought together a group of 14 people, all of whom had experience of not being able to access affordable credit at a time of need. Using camera phones, they took photos and wrote stories to bring to life the day-to-day personal impacts on them.

Each photo and story reveal a unique perspective, from the stress of a household appliance breaking that you can’t afford to replace, to the anxiety of unexpected health emergencies.

Give Me Some Credit: The Reality of Life Without a Safety Net asks: what would you do without a safety net? And how can we build a fairer system where affordable credit is accessible to everyone?