Blogs and news

Here you can find blogs and news about the annual London Voter Registration Week, insights from our grantees, and from our campaigns, like the Voter ID campaign.

Person delivering civic and democratic participation workshop in BSL to a room of seated participants

Empowering Deaf Society - Your Vote, Your Voice

Empowering Deaf Society's ‘Your Vote, Your Voice’ project helped Deaf Londoners to register to vote and to apply for Voter Authority Certificates. Political literacy workshops provided opportunities for Deaf people to understand and engage with civic and democratic life in British Sign Language (BSL), including visits to Parliament, meeting local representatives and presentations on London’s Democracy.

Female participant at Age UK East London's support session

Age UK East London - Speak Up, Sign Up

Age UK East London’s ‘Speak Up, Sign Up Project’ helped older East Londoners to understand and act on changes to voting requirements, including photo Voter ID through information stalls and digital inclusion sessions. This project expanded its scope to support the needs of carers to engage with their civic and democratic rights. It also built on existing community meeting forums to engage older East Londoners in civic participation.

Ruils staff standing in front of a presentation screen about civic and democratic rights

Disability Action Haringey - Empowering Voices: Civic Engagement for All

GLA Democratic Participation Grants Team

Disability Action Haringey's ‘Empowering Voices: Civic Engagement for All’ project enhanced political literacy among D/deaf and disabled Londoners. Their workshops, advice sessions and social media activity supported participants to better understand their democratic rights. Disability Action Haringey (DAH) worked in partnership with Ruils, Disability Action in Islington and Inclusion London to increase their reach and impact.

Faith Forum for London's youth forum members on a visit to a place of worship

Faiths Forum for London - Faith in Democracy

GLA Democratic Participation Grants Team

Faiths Forum for London’s Faith in Democracy project supported young Londoners to understand how they can engage with democracy and influence local decision-making. The project engaged students at Freshers’ Fairs and developed a Youth Forum, who created a programme of workshops so they could share their knowledge in places of worship and content creation for social media.

Two women, one talking to the other about registering to vote and civic and democratic participation

KAYAV - Change Makers

GLA Democratic Participation Grants Team

Kosovar Albanian Youth Against Violence’s (KAYAV) ‘Change Makers’ project provided democratic participation support to the Albanian-speaking communities in London through regular drop-in sessions and workshops. The project connected communities to local decision-making through local events and visits to Parliament. It also delivered training to grassroots partners across London on impartiality; and co-designed accessible, culturally rooted activities to build political literacy and community engagement.

Two LGBT HERO staff sitting behind a stall with information on civic and democratic participation for the LGBTQIA+ communities

LGBT HERO - Empowering LGBTQ+ Voices: Civic Engagement and Voter Participation

GLA Democratic Participation Grants Team

LGBT HERO’s ‘Empowering LGBTQ+ Voices: Civic Engagement and Voter Participation’ project expanded their online ‘Voter ID hub’ to ‘LGBTQ+ Democracy Hub’ support LGBTQIA+ Londoners to engage more in democratic processes and local decision-making. Their outreach sessions and social media activity had a particular focus on transgender and non-binary Londoners. This work helped participants to better understand their civic and democratic rights, including how to contact local representatives.

Care leaver champions image with people holding cards with vote or care written on them

Partnership for Young London - Care Leaders

GLA Democratic Participation Grants Team

Partnership for Young London's ‘Care Leaders’ project was tailored to the needs of care-experienced young people and supporting them to overcome barriers to registering to vote and applying for photo voter ID. A network of ‘Care Champions’ were trained to deliver political literacy workshops and connect young people with decision-making mechanisms to get heard on issues that matter to them. Information was also cascaded to key practitioners in local authorities to embed in their local offer.

A group of women sitting in a circle learning about civic and democratic participation with RCCT

RCCT - Voting and Representation for Romanian and Romanian Roma Community

GLA Democratic Participation Grants Team

Romanian Culture and Charity Together's (RCCT) ‘Voting and Representation for Romanian and Romanian Roma Community’ supported Romanian and Romanian Roma Londoners to register to vote; apply for accepted photo voter ID; improve their political literacy; and build trust in civic and democratic participation. Their outreach, in partnership with Romanian Mothers in the UK, the Romanian Support Network and Roma Voice included information sessions, social media meetups and tailored community information videos.

A group of East and Southeast Asian people attending a workshop on civic and democratic participation

SEEAWA - Vote for Rights for Women from East and Southeast Asia

GLA Democratic Participation Grants Team

Southeast and East Asian Women’s Association’s ‘Vote for Rights for Women from East and Southeast Asia (ESEA)’ project addressed the barriers that migrant women face when engaging with democracy and local decision-making. It does so through interactive community outreach information sessions, partnership collaborations and tailored social media posts. The project also shared opportunities for the ESEA community to engage in civic participation, including volunteering.

A group of professionals sitting in a circle engaging with a training session on how to use the ATT toolkit

The Politics Project - At the Table Toolkit

GLA Democratic Participation Grants Team

The Politics Project’s ‘At the Table’ (ATT) project focused on the development of a toolkit for youth practitioners to support political literacy discussions in informal youth settings. The aim of the toolkit is to encourage learning through play with activities that connect young people with mechanisms for getting their voices heard on issues that matter most to them and to address low levels of social trust.

A women standing in front of a presentation screen delivering a civic and democratic participation workshop

Voice4Change England - Your Voice Your Democracy

GLA Democratic Participation Grants Team

Voice4Change England’s ‘Your Voice Your Democracy’ project delivered activity online and offline to engage Black and Minoritised Ethnic communities and increase access to reliable information on civic and democratic participation.