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Working together to
make things better

Impact and Learning Review 2017-19

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We re-launched the Co-op Foundation in 2017 with a mission to help disadvantaged communities to overcome their challenges by putting co-operative values into practice.

This is how we got on.

Help us do even more in 2020
 
Our highlights
2017-19
Image: Money
We awarded
£6.5m
to projects that will connect and empower young people to beat loneliness
Image: Belong
18,734
young people have participated in Belong projects UK-wide
Image: Yellow Socks
We launched
Lonely Not Alone
to help everyone show they care about youth loneliness by wearing yellow socks
Image: Sustainable
Awarded
£2.2m
of interest-free loans and grants to help 33 community spaces become more sustainable
Image: Environment
Helped
66 communities
to explore ways that local challenges could be addressed through better use of spaces
Image: Piggy Bank
We’ve leveraged
£6.8m
of match-funding and grant commitments to expand our work
Image: Membership
138,000 Co-op Members raised
£500,000
for Belong by choosing it as their Co-op Local Cause
Image: Handshake
Won a
Better Society Award
with our long-term supporter Allan Leighton
Image: Values
Launched our
Values in Action framework
to guide the way we work and the difference we make
Belong
Young people
beating loneliness

Young people feel lonely more than any other age group. We’ve awarded more than £6.5m of grants to help young people beat loneliness since 2017. We’ve also helped to create resources and networks to embed our learning longer term.

Watch how our #iwill Fund is supporting young people to help each other beat loneliness on the move up to secondary school.

Read more
Read more
Our Impact so far...
Image: Connecting
5,327
young people have improved confidence
5,033
young people have gained skills
Image: Empowering
3,130
young people have more trusting relationships
2,648
young people feel valued by their community
Based on outcomes reported by Belong projects 2017-19
Image: Lonely not alone

Our 2019 research showed young people want to beat loneliness for themselves and their peers, but stigma is a problem. A group of 11 to 22-year-olds created the Lonely Not Alone campaign to tackle this and help us all show we care.

Watch our video to see how yellow socks can help!

Get involved
Get involved
Strengthening
communities

We’ve also been investing in local spaces that bring people together, building stronger communities where people can connect and co-operate.

Watch how our interest-free loan helped Grangetown United.

Read more
Values in action
Our values guide the way we work and the difference we make. Click each value to see what they mean for us.
Image: Equality and Equity
Equality & Equity
Image: Honesty and Openness
Honesty and Openness
Image: Democracy
Democracy
Image: Social Responsibilty
Social responsibilty
Funding our growth
We've focused on developing strategic partnerships to help grow our income since 2017, and Co-op Members have helped us, too
£6.8m raised from match-funding partnerships
£500k raised for Belong by Co-op Members through the Local Community Fund

Co-op Members can help us do even more by choosing us as their new Local Cause

Support us
“And we’ve learned a lot, too”
I was blown away by how authentic the ideas were for Lonely Not Alone...young people really are the experts on the issues that affect them, and we should put them in charge more often.
Andy Mortimer,
Communications Manager
We’ve seen that flexible and patient funding can bring really positive outcomes for community organisations. We now need to explore how we can continue to offer groups the support they need in a way that is sustainable for us as a funder.
Ella Smyth,
Programmes & Partnerships Advisor
Over the past three years, we’ve explored which aspects of our volunteering offer were most effective in developing communities’ own skills. We’ll reflect on everything we’ve learned as we develop new plans to support organisations that best understand and represent the communities they serve.
Jill Wells,
Programmes & Partnerships Manager
Tell us what you think of our online Impact Report