Ranting & Raving’s Values inform our workshops and collaborations:
SUSTAINABILITY
R&R prioritises alternatives to Big Tech.
This website is proud to be hosted with:
GREENNET
A non-profit internet network to provide internet services for activists and non-profit organisations.
R&R website data is stored in GreenNet’s primary servers in a renewable-energy datacentre in London. The servers are run on secure open source software and use file system encryption to protect data.
The music we create in Ranting & Raving workshops is released through:
SUBVERT
Subvert is a music platform cooperative, which means it is collectively owned by its members. Ranting & Raving is proud to be one of the founding labels. *The alpha platform is now live for members-only testing. Our music and the other creators’ on the platform will be available in summer 2026.
TRANSPARENCY
R&R is committed to full transparency of organisational and financial operations.
R&R was launched and is run by Sarah Zad (Hi! I also host the workshops – I’m a Syrian / American refugee-support worker living in the UK with my little pug, Ruby.)
As a CIC (Community Interest Company – pending), all of R&R‘s financing goes directly to the R&R community. You will soon be able to donate directly through this website.
Your donations will currently be going towards:
• Duolingo English Test credits: For many people, the only way out of unsafe countries or circumstances are scholarships. The UNHCR’s waiting list is astronomical and if you’re internally displaced, you’re not eligible for refugee status. However, another hurdle is passing an international accredited English examination, which are currently unavailable in certain countries, for example, (TOEFL, IELTS). Duolingo accreditation is now also accepted at most universities, and can be completed online! Credits are £50 a piece, which R&R will sponsor for our participants.
• ENIC: The ENIC offers international students “Statements of Comparability” for their current transcripts to share with UK universities. This helps the admission process and for individuals to more easily apply for the courses their previous experience equates to in the UK. ENIC has a scheme for refugee rights organisations: “Bundle Service – Refugee”, which with enough donations, R&R will be able to utilise for our participants.
• Travel budget for participants in the UK: As workshops in person begin, this will support travel costs for participants in the UK who cannot afford travel fare to London or where workshops may be held.
***When music is downloaded for a donation on Subvert, this money will go to the featured grassroots project the song was made in collaboration with – for example, the first song’s download donations will go to Green & Black Cross.
R&R initially fundraised £554.10 at our Launch Night which went towards:
• Our first year hosted with GreenNet
• Registering R&R as a CIC (Community Interest Company – pending)
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• Registering with music royalties and neighbouring rights societies:
PRS for Music & MCPS: music royalties for songwriters, creators and producers – in the event the music we release is ever performed, broadcast, streamed, downloaded, reproduced, played in public or used in film and TV
PPL: neighbouring rights and royalties through licensing the use of our music, in the event the music we release is played around the world
*Any royalties received will be divided 50/50 between R&R (added to our internal donations) and the producer of the song. Producers must be registered at these organisations independently from *R&R.
MUTUAL AID
R&R prioritises collaborating exclusively with fellow grassroots groups and projects.
R&R workshops are for refugees and people on the move (though anyone is welcome!) as migration vernacular shifts depending on policies and context. Immigration systems in place categorise people seeking sanctuary and R&R workshops and financial assistance (listed above) are open to any of our participants.