The partners making our Future Communities Vision a reality
If 2022 was a year for us to develop our strategy and establish what fairer, future communities looked like, 2023 was all about making that vision a reality.
At the heart of our Future Communities Vision are our funded partners. In 2023, we supported them to make communities across the UK more sustainable, more equal and more inclusive.
This year, our Impact Report is a film created by three of our funded partners to show, through their eyes, exactly how our funding supports them. We’re passionate about giving our partners a voice – we’re the funder, but they do the work on the ground. They make things happen, and they build communities. That’s why we put them in front (and behind!) the camera.
The result? This heart-warming film which shows the real impact they’re making in their communities every single day:
Celebrating the impact of our partners
In 2023, our funded partners built communities that share power with young people – where they have a voice and are part of paving a way to a fairer world. They created communities that provide opportunities for people – often those who are underrepresented – to succeed.
And they championed communities where people work together. Communities that are rooted in co-operative values.
Last year, we awarded £2.8m to 27 organisations across the UK. We did this through our:
- Future Communities Fund to help develop diverse leaders of the future
- Carbon Innovation Fund, a partnership with Co-op, which funds innovative ways to reduce carbon emissions in the food and farming industry.
- #iwill Fund, providing existing partners with additional funding so they could continue their work supporting young people making a difference in their communities through social action
Building communities of the future together with Co-op
Co-op and its members make it possible for us to support our amazing funded partners.
And there’s much more to come!
Already in 2024, we’ve launched our £4.5m Young Gamechangers Fund to support individual young people and youth-led organisations that are driving change in their communities.
We also announced an £1m annual donation from Co-op Live – the UK’s largest and most sustainable live entertainment venue.
In addition to the £1m donation, Co-op will gift tickets for every show to the Co-op Foundation as part of the ‘Gigs that Give Back’ initiative. We’ll award these tickets to young people who are driving social change through our funds and other Co-op community programmes across the UK.
Will you join us?
I’m so excited to continue our work to build communities of the future together. And we want to bring you along with us – to celebrate the work our amazing partners do. Co-operate with us. Let’s build communities of the future together.
Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram and sign up to our blog below.
If you’re a Co-op colleague, join our Viva Engage community!
