The AJR is the UK’s largest dedicated funder of programmes and projects which promote teaching and learning about the Holocaust (TLH) in the United Kingdom. Although the over-riding priority of the organisation is to provide social, welfare and care services to Holocaust refugees and survivors, we also allocate a portion of our annual budget to support innovation in TLH because we, on behalf of our members, are committed to preserving the memory of those who perished and ensuring that history does not become distorted.
We believe that our role as a grant maker comes with great responsibility, so we aim to support programmes which are underpinned by current scholarship relating to the history of the Holocaust and the pedagogical approaches to teaching it.
Because we hope to foster innovation and self-sustainability, we typically give grants to specific projects, rather than for the general operating funds of organisations and we typically do not fund more than 50% of a project’s total budget. We specifically look to invest in programmes with a measurable impact, and we take a strong interest in the evaluation of these projects. Such evaluation helps to improve both the AJR’s and the grantee’s own understanding of effective practice, and we hope it also helps to make a contribution to the important work being done by colleagues across the field.
In addition to supporting educational programmes, the AJR also has a long history of funding Holocaust remembrance projects. We believe that Britain’s role in the Holocaust – including the events that led to it and its aftermath – is a fundamental part of our nation’s history, and we support work taking place in communities across the country to preserve this memory.
