Co-op Foundation awards £1.4m to develop diverse leaders of the future 

22 June 2023

The Co-op’s Foundation, has awarded £1.4m from its first ever fully unrestricted grant-giving programme specifically for small organisations.  

Grants awarded today are going to 13 groups across the UK with turnovers of less than £250k*. Partners supported are helping young people who face different structural barriers into leadership positions, delivering on Co-op’s vision of “Co-operating for a Fairer World”. 

This is part of a completely new way of working at the Co-op Foundation. Funding has been allocated by its Future Communities Collective (FCC) – a group of seven young people from diverse backgrounds – alongside two of its own young trustees. This group is leading the way on the Foundation’s vision for youth leadership through participatory grant-making, an essential aspect of the charity’s new strategy, Building communities of the future together.  

The up-to-five-year grants also follow the Foundation’s seven funding principles for co-operative funding. Funding is fully unrestricted, meaning any organisation delivering diverse youth leadership could apply. Successful applicants include: 

•  Friends of Romano Lav: A five-year grant of £97,500 will help this Roma youth-led organisation, challenging discrimination and promoting equality. 
• 21 Together: A five-year grant of £150,000 will help the team provide training, therapy, resources, interventions, peer support and expert guidance for children and young people with Down’s syndrome, their families and the professionals that support them. 

• Girls into Coding: A five-year grant of £75,000 will help the team break down barriers and stereotypes that discourage girls from pursuing careers in technology and helps bridge the gender gap in STEM. 

Diverse youth leadership is part of the Co-op Foundation’s Future Communities Vision, created by 100 young people. 

Nick Crofts, CEO of the Co-op Foundation, said: 

“The Future Communities Fund is our first co-operative grant-giving programme from our new strategy and just one example of how we’re working to build communities of the future together with young people.  

“Supporting young people into leadership positions – through youth leadership at the Co-op Foundation and co-operation with our new partners – is helping us to lay the foundations for a fairer society. The 13 organisations we’re supporting are doing amazing work with and for young people. Our unrestricted and long-term funding will add greater stability and security to their work and help develop the diverse leaders of tomorrow.” 

Halima Mohamud is one of the young people from the Foundation’s Future Communities Collective. She said: 

“Being part of the Future Communities Collective has meant we’ve been able support some ground-breaking small organisations through long-term funding. 

“The organisations we are supporting have all demonstrated that they are working with their young people to build communities of the future together. Having different understanding and different lived experiences in the room when funding decisions happen has and will have a great impact through the Future Communities Fund.” 

The Co-op Foundation is Co-op’s charity and it’s co-operating for a fairer world. 

The Foundation released is ‘Building communities of the future together’ strategy in 2022. Its funding and campaigns are now all focused on creating fair communities in 10 years’ time, built on co-operative values. Funding today builds on previous Foundation grants that have prioritised youth activism and tackled inequality, including support from its £5m #iwill Fund. 

The second round of the Future Communities Fund is currently being developed. Sign up to the Co-op Foundation blog to hear first when new funding is announced. 

*Organisational turnovers were measured at point of application 

The full list of organisations who received funding from the Future Communities Fund include: 

• 21 Together (Maidstone, England): A five-year grant of £150,000 will help the team provide training, therapy, resources, interventions, peer support and expert guidance for children and young people with Down’s syndrome, their families and the professionals that support them. 
• Friends of Romano Lav (Glasgow, Scotland): A five-year grant of £97,500 will help this Roma youth-led organisation, challenging discrimination and promoting equality. 

• The Gina Project (Birmingham, England): A five-year grant of £132,842 will help support young people who are survivors of rape and sexual abuse. 
• Girls Into Coding (London/nationwide): A five-year grant of £75,000 will help the team to break down barriers and stereotypes that discourage girls from pursuing careers in technology and helps bridge the gender gap in STEM. 
• North West Migrants Forum (Derry, Northern Ireland): A five-year grant of £150,000 will support refugees and migrants. 
• Nurturing Foundations (Manchester, England):  A five-year grant of £150,000 for an organisation to help young people, particularly those from global majority backgrounds to develop the aspirations, resilience, and skills to flourish and the confidence to play an active role in civic life. 
• Reestablish (Leeds, England): A five-year grant of £140,000 will empower young people affected by deprivation to discover and actively pursue opportunities to develop their potential while also helping others. 

• The Rise Collective (Bristol, England): A three-year grant of £30,384 will support disenfranchised 16 to 25-year-olds thrive personally, creatively and professionally. It will use RISE as a platform to challenge and re-imagine structures that perpetuate inequality. 
• RJ Working CIO (Redruth, England):  A five-year grant of £107,000 will equip young people around “Restorative Practice” – a radical and exciting international model, developed in Northern Ireland. This gives young people with complex lived experiences who face discrimination the principles, language and confidence to build a more compassionate and fairer society.  
• Roar Pursuits CIC (London, England): A five-year grant of £150,000 will look to remove the barriers faced by vulnerable care experienced young people who are disproportionally impacted in their access to opportunities. 
• Skills and Volunteering Cymru (Cardiff, Wales): A three-year grant of £90,000 will provide support, free training and volunteering opportunities and experiences for young people to excel. 
• Step Now Global CIC (London, England): A three-year grant of £52,000 will use the power of relatability, role play and immersive experiences to mentor, educate and empower young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

• Youth Work Unit Yorkshire and Humber CIO (Leeds, England): A five-year grant of £60,000 will support a group of nine youth sector worker networks and youth voice social action groups made up of more than 200 young people. Work will encourage young people to participate in youth social action. 

For more information, please contact Sairah Rehman on sairah.rehman@coop.co.uk

ENDS