Partnering with the Astra Foundation to combat youth loneliness and boost mental wellbeing
Doubling our impact through working in partnership with the Astra Foundation.
Sharing tips on how to tackle youth loneliness
Youth loneliness can have a negative impact on young people’s mental wellbeing. That is why we wanted to share some tips, as suggested by young people on our Lonely Not Alone universe, to help reduce feelings of loneliness this Mental Health Awareness Week.
Learning from those with lived experience
Nick Crofts, CEO of the Co-op Foundation recently visited Refugee Action in Bradford. Here’s what he learnt from his visit.
Proud to help Co-op Members show solidarity with Ukraine
Co-op Members can now donate the Rewards they earn in store to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, through the Co-op Foundation
Learning from young people to tackle the stigma of loneliness
We believe long-term change happens when lived experience is put at the heart of decision making and when under-represented voices are raised so they can influence change.
Connecting through constellations
Lonely Not Alone 2021 was a big step forward for us and we learned lots about campaigning and working with young people.
Laying the Foundations for an exciting 2022
Co-op Foundation CEO, Nick, blogs about our impact and learning in 2021 and looks forward to an exciting year ahead.
Flexible funding matters
We care deeply about how our funding can empower people. That’s why we made eight pledges to be a better funder in 2021 through IVAR.
Using what we learn to become a better funder
We learned lots about how young people tackle youth loneliness and improve mental wellbeing as part of our Building Connections Fund.
Lonely Not Alone – We’re making a difference
More than 3.1m young people have seen Lonely Not Alone and 97% of this group have taken an action, too.
Staying social despite the distance
Community spaces lie at the heart of local areas. They provide a place for people to connect, co-operate and develop support networks.
This is why, in 2019, the Co-op Foundation launched ‘Space to Connect’ – a £1.6m partnership with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to fund organisations that wanted to improve and protect local spaces and reduce social isolation. It ran between until 2021 and supported 57 community organisations. Projects ranged from community trusts to youth clubs, arts centres, and city farms.
Where there’s #iwill there’s a way
Our #iwill Fund partnership with The National Lottery Community Fund and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is our oldest such collaboration. We’re proud to have supported partners to engage young people in high quality social action since mid-2018.
As we mark #iwill Week 2021 – and as we launch our #iwill Fund interim learning report – we look back on this partnership and review what we’ve achieved and learned, particularly in the past year.
Guest blog – Funding Refugee Action
Read how Refugee Action are using our £250k unrestricted funding to improve the lives of refugees in the UK.
Our Carbon Innovation Fund launches on 22 November and here’s how you can get involved
We’re teaming up with the Co-op to decrease carbon emissions from food and farming, and tackle climate change
One small step is a giant leap forward for lonely young people
Our CEO, Nick, blogs about our 2021 Lonely Not Alone experience. The universe goes on forever. Loneliness doesn’t have to.