We awarded Element Society a flexible £10k grant in 2021 to help them bounce back from the financial impact of Covid.

We awarded long-term funding to the Young Trustees Movement and Getting on Board in 2021 to help them tackle inequality in charity leadership.

We’re marking #iwillweek 2021 by shining a light on Groundwork South, which helps young people not in education, employment or training make a difference to local spaces

Current available Charity Commission data shows that, of 953,062 trustee roles registered, 11.7% are taken by people under 40 while just 2.6% are under 30. This is why, for the third year in a row, the Co-op Foundation has awarded a grant to the Young Trustees Movement.

In late 2019, we awarded the Iona Village Hall Community Trust (IVHCT) a £20,000 grant and a £30,000 interest-free loan to help them redevelop their village hall.

In 2018, we awarded Norfolk-based Mancroft Advice Project (MAP) £77,000 from our Building Connections Fund to work with local partners and help young people at risk of loneliness improve wellbeing, build relationships and deliver community campaigns.

We chatted to two of our Community Spaces Loans partners to find out the impact of our grants and their hopes for the future beyond the pandemic.

Building Connections Fund partner, Ourside, found that moving to digital youth work during Covid helped them to break down barriers with some young people.

Young people from our Youth Advisory Group have been speaking up to help us make more informed decisions on issues that affect their peers.

Young people co-created our Lonely Not Alone campaign to address the stigma of loneliness and remind other young people they’re not alone.

Our #iwill Fund partner, TwentyTwenty, adapted quickly when Covid hit to maintain trust of the young people they support and expand their reach, tackling loneliness along the way.

Our flexibility at the start of lockdown helped Comics Youth create safe spaces for young people when they needed it most

Our funding for the Belong Collective and National Youth Partnership helped youth workers better understand and tackle rising levels of loneliness during 2020 lockdowns

We made a £20,500 grant to help increase the racial diversity of charity trustee boards so they can better represent and support their communities.

An extended repayment holiday on our interest-free loan is helping Beechbrae social enterprise support local mental health needs despite falling income during lockdown.