SafeLives, Rape Crisis Scotland and Comic Relief are among the charities that have been awarded grants from the latest round of the Tampon Tax Fund.
Twelve charities in all will share £15m in funding from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which distributes funds generated from VAT on women’s sanitary products.
This round opened to applications in March 2020. The deadline for charities to apply for funding was extended to 7 June this year in response to the coronavirus crisis.
The domestic abuse charity SafeLives has received nearly £1.5m towards a project to make sure thousands of young women have knowledge and confidence to protect themselves and their friends from coming to harm.
Rape Crisis Scotland has received just over £1m to help build the capacity of Rape Crisis services all over the country, with a focus on people who would normally find it difficult to access their services.
Comic Relief will use £1.3m from the fund to make grants to organisations led by and for Black and ethnic minority women to address violence against women and girls.
The other charities receiving funding are:
o Women in Prison.
o Ovarian Cancer Action.
o Solace Women’s Aid.
o Rosa Foundation.
o The Medaille Trust.
o Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse.
o London Youth.
o YMCA England and Wales, and
o Beat.
DCMS has declined to say how many applications they received for the fund this year. Applicants had expected to find out if their bids were successful this summer. All activities must be concluded and funds spent by 30 June 2022.
Sources: GOV.UK and Civil Society News