OKRE: Opening Knowledge across Research and Entertainment

OKRE: Opening Knowledge across Research and Entertainment is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (charity number 1189257).

OKRE: Opening Knowledge across Research and Entertainment is a charity registered in England and Wales, set up to advance public education in social, scientific and health-related issues by arranging the exchange of knowledge between charities, academics, people with lived experience and individuals working in the creative industries. Its OKRE Fund supports projects that take a fresh approach to exploring these issues and the ideas that shape society. Grants of between £500 and £25,000 are available to organisations and individuals, and its annual giving came to £158,628 in its latest reported year.

Priority Areas

OKRE supports early-stage entertainment projects that are imaginative, meaningful and collaborative, and that challenge misleading perceptions and expand public understanding. Its fund aims to catalyse new ideas through collaboration across entertainment, research and lived experience, bringing researchers, lived-experience experts and entertainment professionals together. Projects may explore a wide range of issues; OKRE names women in STEM, LGBTQIA+ topics, environmental sustainability, mental health and international development as examples. It is open to fresh ideas across dramas, comedies and games. Organisations and individuals may submit proposals that support the fund’s priorities. Its emphasis is on developing meaningful creative content through cross-sector knowledge and experience.

Themes

• Women in STEM
• LGBTQIA+ issues
• Environmental sustainability
• Mental health
• International development

Applicants submit a proposal covering the points specified by OKRE and follow the application procedure set out on its website.

Who can apply:

• OKRE Fund: The Directors welcome proposals that support their funding priorities from organisations and individuals.

What to send:

• OKRE Fund
  • A complete, up-to-date copy of the organisation’s governing document.
  • If the organisation is a UK charity, its registered charity number(s), or, where it is not required to register, evidence of its charitable status.
  • If the organisation is a charity established outside the UK, evidence of its charitable status and that all activities in the proposal will qualify as charitable for the public benefit if undertaken by an organisation registered as a charity in England and Wales.
  • The organisation’s most recent set of accounts.
  • If the applicant is a non-charitable organisation, evidence that the organisation has a bank account and evidence that all activities in the proposal will qualify as charitable for the public benefit if undertaken by an organisation registered as a charity in England and Wales.

Applying again: OKRE Fund: The Directors will not usually award grants to an applicant that has previously submitted an unsuccessful proposal to the Charity or a proposal where the applicant failed the Directors’ due diligence checks and the issues identified at that time have not been addressed.

What the charity says:

• The Directors seek activities that advance the charity’s objects effectively.
• The fund encourages cross-sector collaboration between researchers, people with lived experience and entertainment professionals.
• Applicants are encouraged to seek matched or additional sources of funding.