Future Communities Fund
Supporting organisations helping young people to thrive
This fund is not currently open to applications. We expect to launch the next round of the fund in 2028.
About the fund
Our Future Communities Fund supports organisations with unrestricted grants over five years. The fund is the first strategic fund launched under our ‘Building communities of the future together’ strategy. Each funding round will have a different focus, but all of our partners are championing youth voice and building communities where everyone can thrive.
Our Future Communities Fund brings to life our co-operative way of funding. The fund is:
- Participatory – funding is led by our Future Communities Collective, a group of young people who advise on our funding and strategy.
- Unrestricted – we’re funding organisations, not projects.
- Long-term – we’re providing funding for up to five years.
- Trusting – we’ll work with our partners to understand how our funding can increase their impact.
- Accessible – we introduced a two-stage application process for this fund and pledged to be honest and open with applicants. This aligns to our IVAR commitments.
- Supportive – we’re here to help community groups to be the best they can be in whatever way we can. That’s why we’re funding them flexibly and amplifying the amazing work that they do.
- Facilitating co-operation – we’ll help to facilitate connections between groups so our partners can learn together and achieve more.
Round One
The first round of the Future Communities Fund focuses on helping young people who face structural barriers into leadership positions. In 2023, we awarded a total of £1.4m over five years to 13 organisations across the UK
This round brought together two strategic priorities from our youth-designed Future Communities Vision – ‘youth activism and shared power’ and ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’. Our working definition of ‘diverse’ is people who have experience of being marginalised in society due to their race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status or any other attribute that impacts their inclusion.
Learn more about our round one partners.
Round Two
In 2025, we launched the second round of the Future Communities Fund, which is supporting organisations who are helping young people with experience of the justice system to reconnect with their communities.
Our focus for this round of the fund aligns with our strategic priority of ‘safe communities’ and was informed by research, which explored effective interventions for supporting young people away from the justice system.
Our Future Communities Collective led on the design of this fund and its criteria and made the decisions on which organisations to support. The Collective worked alongside young people from Leaders Unlocked, whose lived experience of the justice system shaped the development of the fund. Hear from the Collective on their experience of working on this fund.
Learn more about our round two partners.
What’s next?
We expect to launch the next round of the Future Communities Fund in 2028.
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