Belong

Equipped local community groups in Greater Manchester with the skills and confidence to support young people who experienced trauma following the Manchester Arena attack in May 2017.

Works with young care leavers to build a creative engagement programme that will grow connections, awareness and opportunities for children and young people in care in Brent, Barnet, Harrow and Ealing

Delivers a youth-led network of mentors who provide face-to-face mentoring, training events and youth groups for young people who have experience of substance misuse. Supported through our #iwill fund.

Runs a co-designed programme of support for young people at risk of, or with experience of, homelessness to help them maintain their tenancies and access activities to reduce loneliness.

The “Care Leavers Unite Bristol” (CLUB) project is growing a programme of social activities for isolated care leavers to engage with peers and develop skills and confidence.

Offers a coaching programme for young care leavers in London and the south east to help them to navigate into independence post-care.

“Friends Old and New” is an #iwill funded book club project in Thanet for young people with learning disabilities to make new friends and learn about social action.

Social connection programme to support 40 young women from disadvantaged communities to use Boxercise as a tool to explore emotions, tackle loneliness and develop peer mentoring skills.

“Mind the Gap” supports disadvantaged young people, including refugees and asylum seekers, to learn new skills and deliver campaigns that help tackle loneliness during the move to secondary school.

Provides opportunities in Cornwall for care-experienced young people to work together to help one another understand and combat loneliness.

“Action4Gasgoigne” supports young people to plan and deliver youth social action events for their peers to overcome problems they’ve identified on their local estate, including loneliness.

“Common Ground” is twinning special schools with mainstream schools in Wolverhampton to connect and empower young people and start a conversation around youth loneliness.

Works with Turtle Arts to bring young people with HIV together to build friendships, create music and record podcasts that will be showcased online.

Clean Break’s Artist Development Programme helps young women at risk of, or with experience of, the criminal justice system explore youth loneliness through theatre and performance.

Empowers young people in Manchester, Hartlepool and Plymouth to make a difference in their communties. Inspired by co-operative values, they work together, running their own social action projects to address loneliness. Supported through our #iwill fund.

Epidermolysis Bullosa (a rare skin condition) connection groups, supported by young panel members, connect young people to mentoring and peer support. This creates safe places to develop ambitions and discuss difficult topics.

Delivers outreach work in Rainworth and Blidworth to enhance young people’s work skills and confidence, and encourage them to get involved in volunteering in their community. Supported through our #iwill fund.

Building a community of bereaved young people to develop training for employers, schools and colleges, run peer mentoring schemes and provide accessible support to their peers to tackle youth loneliness.

We’re supporting ‘Community Apprentice’ in Birmingham and across the North West, through the Co-op Academies Trust. Community Apprentice builds young people’s skills and helps them tackle issues they care about through youth social action. Supported through our #iwill fund.

Works in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University, using music, digital tools and AI to connect young carers and help them discuss their feelings.

“Northern Navigators” empowers young people previously not in employment, education or training to support their peers to access health, wellbeing and employability services. Supported through our #iwill fund.

Groups of care leavers will come together to develop activities and workshops that build connections. A school group will help prepare young people for life after school and care.

Disabled young people co-design and run activities that offer improved social and learning time with peers experiencing similar barriers. This helps to develop new skills and improve mental wellbeing.

A secret shopper programme in Islington tackles loneliness by engaging disabled young people in evaluating the inclusivity of local venues and suggesting improvements. Supported through our #iwill fund.

“Songs of Belonging” supports older secondary school pupils to deliver loneliness workshops in primary schools to help tackle loneliness among those transitioning from primary to secondary school. Supported through our #iwill fund.

Worked in partnership with fellow Belong partner 42nd Street to train a group of young co-researchers to investigate how loneliness affects young people across the UK.

Developing a life-coaching and group work programme and co-designing a campaign raising awareness of youth loneliness with young people.

Gig Buddies in Hull is matching young people with learning disabilities with a volunteer who shares similar interests, to engage in cultural and nightlife activities together. Supported through our #iwill fund

Young people are designing and developing the “Together Project” to help them feel better connected to the community and develop good quality relationships.

Young people in Southampton are being trained as “Youth Ambassadors” to deliver campaigns aimed at addressing youth loneliness. Supported through our #iwill Fund.

“Freedom” and “Mentality” support young people in Bristol and South Gloucestershire who are LGBTQ+ or who have experiences of mental ill health to co-ordinate and deliver campaigns that help support their peers. Supported through our #iwill fund.”

Launched an expanded series of “Pop-up Youth Clubs” in places where young people go will help develop their confidence, resilience and understanding of loneliness.

Ovalhouse will tour the ‘Random Selfies’ production England-wide and deliver their ‘Find a Friend’ initiative in schools. Young people experiencing or at risk of loneliness will also design and build a temporary theatre space for summer holiday activities for young people in Brixton.

Runs a beatboxing and vocal coaching project for hospitalised young people with cystic fibrosis to reduce the negative impact from hospital stays. Extra tools will be created for those needing remote support.

Runs theatre workshops with young people from Special Educational Needs (SEN) and mainstream schools to break down barriers and support new friendships.

Runs supper clubs for visually-impaired young people across London, developing their networks and building confidence and skills through talks and workshops.

Runs sessions for young people aged 9 to 13 years old and 14 to 18 years old to explore what it means to be lonely and create opportunities to find solutions.

A “Youth Ambassador” programme is helping local young people in Southend-on-Sea to learn new skills and work with artists, tutors and other professionals to raise awareness of youth loneliness. Supported through our #iwill fund.

“Young Commissioners” is creating a Connection Commission to research youth loneliness with their peers and work with adult co-commissioners to report back findings and solutions.

Our Building Connections Fund Youth strand grant supports a volunteering and enterprise-focused outdoor programme that helps local young people with mental health difficulties building connections and confidence. Space to Connect will help create an online horticultural training programme that can be sold to generate income.

A national network of “Young Carer Champions” co-produce a programme of support and training workshops for other young carers so they can increase connections.

LGBT+ young people are running an awareness campaign to improve community cohesion, and supporting schools with peer support groups and LGBTQ+ resources. Supported through our #iwill fund

Delivers skills workshops in the South of England, including one with young offenders, followed by up to six months of individual support.

The “Together Days” programme supports community partners to co-design youth social action events that boost the confidence and skills of local young people in Torbay. Supported through our #iwill fund.

Runs “Journey to work” – a six-month programme of peer guidance and one-to-one support to help young people struggling with employment be better prepared for work. Supported through our #iwill fund.

Developed research to better understand how youth work contributes to addressing youth loneliness, and what additional support they could benefit from to better address the issue.

Runs a national personal development programme to help young wheelchair users make friends, learn skills and take on leadership roles that boost their confidence.

Unemployed young people are working together to co-develop ecotherapy activities, including walks, conservation and other outdoor activity, to reduce loneliness and explore barriers to employment.

A design team of young people from more disadvantaged areas of Scotland will develop campaigns and resources to grow their own skills and help embed youth loneliness as a key national issue.

The “Youth Activist” programme trains young people with mental health difficulties to deliver community workshops that boost their own skills and confidence and raise awareness of mental health among peers. Supported through our #iwillFund.

Young people from more disadvantaged backgrounds will develop skills and confidence by co-leading activities, including campaigns and employability workshops. Learning will help local youth organisations get better at tackling loneliness.

Young people from more disadvantaged backgrounds will work across Wales to tackle loneliness through youth social action and help embed learning into national decision making.

We fund a number of Youth Focus: North East projects including the ‘Fast Friends’ drop-in, ‘Big Days’ events series (#iwill Fund) and ‘Community Hosting’.

Brings together disadvantaged young people to learn how to cook and helps them to organise a community cooking event that builds connections with local people. Supported through our #iwillFund.