Colston 4 Defence funds will be given to good causes
THOUSANDS of pounds raised for the four people who were prosecuted for their part in toppling the statue of Bristol slave trader Edward Colston – but not spent because they were acquitted – will be given to good causes in the city.
The ‘Bristol Topplers’ Defence Fund’ raised thousands of pounds in the 18 months between the start of a police investigation into the toppling of the statue in June 2020 and the trial and acquittal of the ‘Colston 4’ in December 2021 and January this year.
That money, which didn’t include funds raised by the sale of limited edition T-shirts created by Banksy, paid for the four’s defence costs at the trial, with more set aside in case they were found guilty and fined.
But the four – Rhian Graham, Milo Ponsford, Jake Skuse and Sage Willoughby – were cleared of criminal damage in January, so the fund was left with a total of £13,518.
The ‘Glad Colston’s Gone’ campaign, which raised the money and supported the four, announced earlier this month it would be donating the money to an organisation called Bristol Redistro, which for the past three years has raised money and distributed it to small-scale projects, charities, campaigns and good causes in the city.
Now, Bristol Redistro has announced how it will be redistributing the money, and is invited groups and organisations to apply for a share of the leftover Colston 4 cash.
A spokesperson said: “Our next funding round is to redistribute the £13,518 remaining in the ‘Glad Colston’s Gone’ Bristol Topplers Defence Fund. This will be a special one-off round run by and for Bristolbased Black and Brown-led racialised groups.
“We encourage applications from groups from across Bristol who may not easily access mainstream funding streams.”
They said the maximum amount any one group could apply for was £1,000. The deadline for applications is April 30, and those applications will be shortlisted by the end of April, with the announcement of who is to get a share of the money set to be made on May 14.
The spokesperson said: “We started out in 2019 as a small group of people involved in community and political projects in Bristol who saw the need for money and resources to be redistributed more fairly. We wanted to find a way for local people to come together and pool their surplus wealth and for this to be used to support local groups facing inequality and injustice and working to create a just, equal and sustainable world.”
The first grant-giving day happened on June 7, 2020, with £6,350 raised by the Redistro volunteers shared out among seven groups that applied, and the organisation has continued raising and giving out money in this way every few months since.
The spokesperson said: “Bristol Redistro’s mission is to give grassroots groups the power to decide how the funds they distribute are used to create social change – their practice is in opposition to the controlling philanthropy of elites, such as Colston and the Society of Merchant Venturers.”