Sponsors
Speakers’ Corner Trust is grateful to the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and the Ministry of Justice which have provided funding to enable SCT to undertake its projects and develop its services, including this website, in the UK.
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Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is one of the largest independent grant-making foundations in the UK. We have an endowment of approximately £950 million and spend in the region of £30 million each year mainly in the arts and heritage, education, environment, and social development sectors. We make grants to organisations which aim to improve the quality of life for people and communities in the UK, both now and in the future.We define quality of life not simply in terms of economic well-being, although clearly that is important, but also that we are enriched by our environment, both natural and human, by our culture, heritage, and education, and by our sense of belonging and community. We are also concerned that everyone should have the opportunity to flourish as part of a healthy and dynamic society. The education programme at the Foundation is interested in encouraging young people to air their views on political, social and economic issues. We feel that the Speakers Corner project will help to rekindle interest in live debate and will encourage people of all ages to vote and to get more engaged in local and national decision-making.
For further information on the Foundation and its programmes, please visit www.esmeefairbairn.org.uk. |
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The Ministry of Justice Democratic Engagement Branch has actively sought to improve the government-citizen relationship by encouraging open and transparent dialogue and deliberation during the policy development process.The government’s Governance of Britain Green Paper reinforces this agenda as it emphasises the importance of engaging the public and providing genuine opportunities to influence decision-making. The Speakers’ Corner Trust initiative is an integral part of assisting government achieve it’s public engagement agenda, as it provides a practical model for government institutions to engage, listen and respond accordingly to civic issues/concerns. For further information about the Democratic Engagement Branch, please visit www.justice.gov.uk/whatwedo/ democraticengagement.htm. |
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The Foreign & Commonwealth Office seeks to promote human rights and democracy across the range of its international work. It does so both as a reflection of Britain’s values and international obligations and through a recognition that countries which are democratic, respect the rights of their citizens and observe the rule of law at home and abroad, are also safer places in which to live and work, trade with or visit.The FCO, through the British High Commission in Abuja, is supporting Speakers’ Corner Trust’s work in Nigeria as it promotes key elements of the its Human Rights & Democracy programme. The Programme is founded on the principle that democracy, and its commitment to freedom of expression and association, is the only system of government in which individuals have the opportunity fully to realise their human rights and which respects a plurality of opinion, provides a framework for non-violent change and manages conflict peacefully, based on equal opportunity to participate in the political process.For further information about the FCO’s Human Rights & Democracy programme, please visit http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/what-we-do/spend-our-budget/funding-programmes1/strat-progr-fund/human-rights. |
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Regional Action West Midlands (RAWM) supports the voluntary and community sector at regional level. RAWM was established in 2000 as a result of Government policy to move decision-making powers and resources from Central Government departments to the newly created English regions. RAWM supports the voluntary and community sector in the following ways: 1) Promoting a sector perspective on regional strategies by reflecting the sector’s voice at key meetings 2) Maximising the sector’s contribution to regional strategies by supporting organisations to engage with and influence regional work; 3) Sharing important regional information with voluntary and community organisations and feeding information about the sector back into regional structures; 4) Influencing the development of government programmes and unlocking resources for the sector.For more information please visit www.rawm.org.uk |
