Getting Ready to Stand

Fund Her

If you’re from an underrepresented background or experience and are contesting an election, a Fund Her grant can support the personal costs of standing - from childcare, to coats and shoes, to disability-related costs and more.

Since our grant-making started, nearly £60,000 of grants have been made to women standing for election. 32% of those have been distributed in 2024 including 10 women standing in the snap General Election.

The challenges facing leaders and policy-makers have never seemed bigger. We urgently need a new generation of women who represent the lived experience of people in the communities they represent, and are capable of building dynamic and positive solutions for the future. But until financial barriers are removed, standing for election remains a dream that is out of reach for many women. 

That's why we work across the political spectrum to fund, train and lift up the voices of underrepresented women as they stand for election.

Our mission is to support a new generation of women into elected office. Working class women, Disabled women and Women of Colour, all of whom have plenty of skills and life experience to draw on, are too often ignored and unheard in political spaces. 

We offer grants which go to women directly to cover personal expenses necessary to engage in the democratic process.

In 2024, we gave out grants to 21 candidates. Grants are typically spent on:

  • Childcare

  • Transport

  • Food

  • Heating or other bills

  • Disability related costs

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Elect Her acknowledges that standing for election can have challenging financial implications for all candidates. On average, women have less access to finances than men, and so these costs present a greater barrier to women's participation in democracy. Due to our limited resources, this fund is targeted at those who are already on a low income or facing other financial challenges, and are from groups, backgrounds or experiences that are underrepresented in our political system as they face the biggest barriers contesting for elections.

Eligibility

Our grants are for women who are:

  • Preparing to be a candidate in an upcoming election

  • Experiencing financial barriers, and/or struggling with personal expenses

  • Actively seeking to address the needs of their community

  • Clear on how being elected would aid them to better address the needs of their community or make positive change

Applications from women from a group, background or life experience that is currently underrepresented in politics, including but not limited to women from a minoritised ethnic group or religion, women with disabilities/long-term health conditions and LGBTQIA+ women, will be prioritised in how we will award the grants.

Applications for our 2024 grants have now closed.

If you would like to support Fund Her and directly fund women from underrepresented backgrounds to stand in upcoming elections, please donate to Fund Her today.

Through Equip Her, we train and support women in their diversity to stand for election. 

Fund Her is part of our wider programme of support for candidates, which any woman in Britain is welcome to join. We provide candidates with bespoke skills-training, self-led resources and a supportive community to ensure they run the best election campaign they can.

Over the past few years, we have given grants to over 89 women candidates and campaigners

Activate developed and managed this grant-giving work between 2020-2022, before joining forces with Elect Her to continue the work, under the banner of Fund Her ahead of the 2023 local elections This work continued into 2024 local and general elections. Below are some of our grantees from 2024!

Meet some of our previous grantees

Hear why some of our previous grantees put themselves forward for election, and how they used their Fund Her grant to support their election campaign.

  • Juliet champions the neurodiverse as a Councillor, cabinet member and will continue in Parliament. Her fundamental view is that everyone deserves the best start in life and should not be held back because of neurodiversity.  


    Her varied career collided with her personal life to shape her activism and political voice. She worked her way up from a lowest grade in the Civil Service to a senior manager in the NHS, to running a not-for-profit organisation providing support for families affected by dyslexia. Juliet trained teaching assistants, families and parents on how to recognise, teach and support their children and themselves about dyslexia. 

    As an MP Juliet’s aspiration is to update the teacher training curriculum to increase the amount of time trainee teachers have on how to teach, support, and recognise neurodiversity in the classroom.  Being an MP will allow her  to influence the influencers that can transform the education we provide, allowing opportunities for learning to be fair and inclusive for the neurodiverse – aiming to ensure that no one is left behind.

  • Selena's interest in politics stemmed from her experience of starting the Residents Association for the apartment building she had moved to. After working with the local council to tackle the buildings issues, Selena was approached by some local Councillors to ask if she would be interested in turning her efforts to the wider community and running in the 2021 Local Elections.

    Over the last 3 years, Selena has established herself as a responsive and committed Councillor, fully engaged with local issues. Selena is highly active in the community, keeping residents up to date both in person and via her informative and educational social media posts. Selena firmly believes that you can’t complain about something if you’re not prepared to throw your hat in the ring to help drive positive change. In addition, Selena genuinely enjoys helping people and working for the good of the community.

    Selena has been on maternity leave since the start of 2024. Selena applied for the Fund Her grant to help with finances whilst on a reduced income, in particular for digital equipment, software and childcare.