Co-op Foundation

🚨 Exciting update 🚨 Stay tuned next week as we introduce you to four of the award winners from our new Funding Futures Programme. The Funding Futures Programme is a joint fund from UnLtd, Co-op Foundation and Phoenix Group. It is delivered by UnLtd and has been set up to support young social entrepreneurs working in the areas of financial inclusion and literacy. 📈📚 🌍 To coincide with Global Entrepreneurship Week and Social Enterprise Day, we’ll be showcasing their journeys, giving a glimpse into how successfully securing funding and support from the programme will help their ventures to grow and positively impact more lives and communities in the future. 👉 Follow #FundingFuturesProgramme to meet four of our new award winners next week. #GEW2024 #FundingFuturesProgramme #SocialEntrepreneur #SocialChange

Dear Young Changemakers, we have some incredible news!! After a brilliant year of supporting our #YoungGamechangers as they led change in their communities, we’re back with Grant Round 2 of the #YoungGamechangersFund!! A world where young people are at the forefront of change sounds like a good world to live in. Are you ready to build that world with us? We’re on the lookout for young gamechangers! Applications are now open!! Head to https://lnkd.in/gjK8J4P5 and stay tuned to this space for updates! Co-op Co-op Foundation Global Fund for Children Restless Development #YoungGamechangersFund #YouthPower #FundingOpportunity #YouthFund

Get Ready to Make an Impact! 🚀 Join us Nov 7, 7-8pm for a webinar on Grant Round 2 of the Young Gamechangers Fund! Hear directly from our Youth Steering Group on how this fund supports youth-led change across the UK. Get guidance on: • How to apply and meet eligibility • Support available for young people applying • Tips for parents, educators, and youth workers to empower young leaders   Register: https://bit.ly/4eer8ob

👀 Our first run of the Young Gamechangers Fund was such a success, we’re opening a second round! 🤔 What is the #YoungGamechangersFund and how is it transforming the way youth-led change is funded? Check out a blog by our Steering Group Member Mariama to know more about this incredible project in partnership with Co-op Co-op Foundation, The #iWill Movement#iWill Movement#iWill Movement, Global Fund for Children, and Restless Development! 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gvxdqRGZ 🔔 Interested in applying? Stay tuned to our channels – we’re on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.

Thank you to Association of Charitable Foundations for hosting a great conversation about collaboration across trusts and foundations. Carol Mack Jim Cooke My first Association of Charitable Foundations event for chairs. Thank you to the panel for your insights on the outcomes, barriers and opportunities of collaboration, many that resonated with the work of Andrews Charitable Trust…. And many that provided learning in itself about our different models. Chris Murray Omar Khan Sonali Siriwardena Jamie Ward-Smith MBE Very much enjoyed the event as an opportunity to learn and some particular topics around participatory grant making, asset based approaches to collaboration beyond funding and collaboration being the new basis of competition.

📣 We need more working class representation in politics! How do we make that happen and why do we need it? Last night, I attended RECLAIM’s preview of their ‘Stick Together, Stand Together’ documentary which was directed by one of the outstanding young people they support, Binish. We know the political system isn’t working. We know it doesn’t represent our wonderfully diverse communities. So how do we fix it? This is something that was not only addressed as part of the documentary, but was discussed by the panel after the event, which featured Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham. I will most definitely be sharing the video as soon as is available for public viewing. In the meantime, here are some of the key points I took away from the event: ⭐️ Getting into politics, especially becoming an MP, requires money and connections. Working class people often don’t have access to either of these things ⭐️ Working class people are significantly more likely to suffer from imposter syndrome because many have not been to private school and oxbridge like many other MPs ⭐️ Devolution could help drastically change politics for the better, bringing power back to local people and taking into account regional issues and concerns ⭐️ There is a need to ensure young people receive a political education. How can we expect them to be politically active if we don’t give them the knowledge they need to do so? ⭐️ The current system doesn’t reflect the demographic of the country! This has to be fixed so that people feel reassured that their voices are truly being heard and that someone is advocating for them. ⭐️ Young people are our hope for the future - they are the ones who can fix the political system that the last generation have broken ⭐️ Westminster is an Intimidating space on purpose. It is designed for those who are deemed ‘elite’. Working class people have to find a way to push through that intimidation (like MPs Zarah Sultana and Jess Phillips have done) ⭐️ The three line whip structure restricts people from saying what they need to say. This needs to be addressed to allow people to use their voice. Otherwise, what are they there for? As someone who used to be a mentor on Reclaim’s Full Time Fierce Programme, I am forever proud of their unwavering commitment to empower young people so they gain the skills and confidence they need to raise their very important voices! #politics #youthsocialaction #youthvoice #workingclass