Blog
A fairer future with a co-operative difference
In his first blog as Co-op Foundation CEO, Nick reflects on the lessons of the past 12 months and looks forward to how we can all share a fairer future in 2021.
We are the Co-op's charity.
Read what we achieved with our partners in 2020
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Responding to Covid
We help people challenge inequality and co-operate for change so they can share a fairer future.
In 2020, this meant adapting our work to respond to Covid. We paused our planned strategy. We stepped back so partners could react to their community’s needs. And we listened to what they learned.
Unboxing creativity during lockdown
Our flexibility at the start of lockdown helped Comics Youth create safe spaces for young people when they needed it most.
Read more >Financial security when it mattered most
An extended repayment break on our interest-free loan helped Beechbrae social enterprise support local mental health needs despite falling income during lockdown.
Read more >Helping communities respond to lockdown
Community groups funded through our Space to Connect partnership with government were listening to how their communities wanted to use spaces when the pandemic hit. Lockdown presented opportunities and challenges for us to learn from.
Read more >We worked with partners and other funders to:
Award
£1.8m
to 42 organisations that empower young people to help their peers
Award
£389,000
in interest-free loans and grants to help community spaces become more financially sustainable
Tackling youth loneliness
We know from our £6.5m investment into youth projects that loneliness affects young people from all backgrounds. Our In This Together research showed this was made worse by Covid.
Many of our partners adapted their projects to work digitally, improving access to services for even more young people.
Our Lonely Not Alone campaign was bigger than ever. Thank you to the thousands of you who showed your support.
Not just life-changing, life-saving
Our #iwill Fund partner, TwentyTwenty, adapted quickly when Covid hit to maintain the trust of the young people they support and expand their reach, tackling loneliness along the way.
Read more >Lonely Not Alone: A family outfit
Young people, like Elorm, co-created our Lonely Not Alone campaign to address the stigma of loneliness and remind other young people they're not alone.
Read more >Supporting the youth sector to tackle loneliness
Our funding for the Belong Collective and National Youth Partnership helped youth workers better understand and tackle rising levels of loneliness during the 2020 lockdowns.
Read more >Our impact so far:
5,524
young people have more trusting relationships
7,390
young people have improved confidence
4,248
young people feel valued by their community
7,131
young people have gained skills
Based on outcomes recorded against Belong projects from 2017 to 21 January 2021.
Helping voices to be heard
We want a future that starts with different voices being heard. One that’s built by working together to make things better. A future where everyone can belong.
Through our Luminate programme, partners are exploring the experiences of people of colour in tech while our support for Getting on Board, Action for Trustee Racial Diversity and Young Trustees Movement will help tackle inequality in charity boardrooms.
Meanwhile, young people are having a say in how our youth funding is allocated through our Youth Advisory Group and the Charity Digital Code is helping community organisations reach more people online.
Building racial diversity in charity boardrooms
Our grant is helping to increase the racial diversity of charity trustee boards so they can better represent and support their communities.
Read more >Understanding ethnic diversity in tech
Our partner, Annette Joseph, explains how profit and innovation in tech can be increased by understanding the experiences of people of colour, and tackling racial inequality.
Read more >Empowering young people to make a difference to their peers
Young people from our Youth Advisory Group have been speaking up to help us make more informed decisions on issues that affect their age group.
Read more >Looking forward
With our new CEO, Nick Crofts, we will work with Co-op and other partners through 2021 to
challenge inequality and champion co-operation in communities UK-wide.
"If 2020 taught us anything it’s that co-operation works and that communities coming together to support each other has never been more important. I’m proud that our charity, the Co-op Foundation, worked tirelessly to do what mattered most for the communities they support. Co-operation shone through in how they supported communities, empowered young people to beat loneliness and tackled inequalities among under-represented groups. I look forward to building on our close relationship over the next 12 months, as we continue to co-operate for a fairer world."
Thank you
to all our partners and match funders for everything you achieved and learned with us in 2020.
