Comic Relief’s Open Border Grants

This research is powered by DOGE UK.

Head to this link to find hundreds of millions in grants awarded to Comic Relief, as well discover which organisations and government departments have funded Comic Relief:

Without further ado, here are open-border grants awarded by Comic Relief. (By “open-border grants”, I mean grants that have the effect of creating de facto open borders in the UK.)

£340,000 to Bail for Immigration Detainees

Bail for Immigration Detainees provides “free legal advice, information and representation to thousands of people held in detention across the UK.”

It offers information on areas such as “How to get out of detention?” and “Are you facing deportation?” as well as running free legal advice for those “detained under immigration powers in a prison or removal centre”.

Comic Relief provided £300,000 towards “Assisting immigration detainees to secure release and live safely” and £40,000 towards “Legal advice and representation to immigration detainees in the UK”.

This post is free to read. Support my research by taking out a subscription or making a donation on Buy Me a Coffee. Thank you to everyone who has funded my work.

£2,254,267 to Refugee Action

“Will you help people like Abduallah who are being pushed into crisis and isolation?” asks Refugee Action, a charity that already receives huge amounts of taxpayer funding (£16,765,000 between 2021-25).

Refugee Action organises marches and offers people an “activist pack” with information on how to influence your MP, “gather your friends, colleagues and community and take mass-action for refugees”, and “Join the Sanctuary movement” – coordinated by open-border charity City of Sanctuary.

Comic Relief’s grants have gone towards “Supporting people and charities in the immigration and asylum system during the Covid-19 pandemic” and a “Navigating Asylum partnership” that works “to ensure that people can access justice and support at an early point to move through the system (whatever their outcome) effectively.”

£200,000 to Detention Action

Detention Action supports people living in immigration detention, offering the likes of “lived experience networks”. The charity recently criticised the Home Secretary’s Asylum Reforms, writing:

“Instead of addressing serious failings in the current detention and removal systems, this government’s divisive proposals will only create more chaos and misery.

“At Detention Action, we stand with those seeking asylum and remain committed to providing support and advice to people in detention as they navigate this increasingly hostile system.”

According to 360 Giving, “Comic Relief funding will support Detention Action’s core work of support and advocacy for asylum seekers detained at Colnbrook and Harmondsworth immigration removal centres, near Heathrow airport.”

£250,000 to Micro Rainbow International

Micro Rainbow, which has also had £403,354 in grants from The National Lottery Community Fund, says it provides “safe housing, employability, and and [sic] social inclusion support for LGBTQI refugees and people seeking asylum.”

Recently the organisation edited and posted an image of a hair model to pretend he was “Hassan, a gay man from Somalia”, who had been granted refugee status in the UK and was “rebuilding his life” supported by the charity’s Moving On team. You can read the whole story here:

£200,000 in Comic Relief funds have gone towards “Eradicating homelessness of LGBTQI asylum seekers by 2030” and another £50,000 “to support and create opportunities for LGBTQI asylum seekers and refugees to lead independent and fulfilling lives, through a holistic approach offering shelter, skills and social inclusion.”

£1,400,351 to the British Refugee Council

The British Refugee Council has already received £41,588,000 from taxpayers between 2021-25 – so it is hardly short on funds. Needless to say, it has had £1.4 million from Comic Relief for schemes including “Fair Shot”, “a content campaign to win hearts and minds, that will spark a positive conversation about refugees among football fans.”

The organisation is very political, previously campaigning against the Conservative Party’s Rwanda plan and the “hostile environment”.