The Criminal Legal System and Penal Reform

The A B Charitable Trust provides funding to UK registered charities working to support individuals and communities in contact with the criminal legal system or at imminent risk of coming into contact, particularly those focused on harm prevention. The Trust seeks to fund work that has a clear intent to bring about change and puts equity at the centre, with impact on the most marginalised and excluded communities facing intersecting disadvantages, particularly racialised communities. This includes organisations supporting individuals and their families at any stage of the criminal legal system, from prevention to police to courts and prison, as well as upon release. The Trust supports organisations working with those on the sharpest end of sentencing, including joint enterprise and IPP, and those subject to state injustice such as miscarriages of justice or deaths in custody. The funding supports a wide range of work including delivering services, policy advocacy and influencing, campaigning, narrative change work, and community organising. The Trust is interested in the use of law as a tool for social change to address injustices at individual and systemic levels. Typically unrestricted funding is provided to eligible organizations with annual incomes between £150k and £1.5m.