The importance of youth leadership: an interview with three of our Future Communities Collective
When people think about the Co-op Foundation, they often think of our colleagues as being the people who are building communities of the future. What they sometimes don’t realise is that there are groups of young people who play a vital role in helping us to make decisions and shape change at the Co-op Foundation, including our Future Communities Collective (FCC).
The Collective is a group of diverse young people who are bringing a youth perspective to how we work. They have spent 2024 learning more about grantmaking, using their own experiences and views to shape how we work here at the Foundation.
In 2025, they’ll take the lead on allocating funding through the second round of our Future Communities Fund.
Suranne, Keshon and Finlay share how they’re finding their experience so far.
- Why do you think it’s important that young people have a say in decision-making?
S: I often find that society favours adult perspectives over youth perspectives, on the basis of experience. But this approach often overlooks the wealth of life experiences that young people, particularly our team, has, being spread out across the nation, with different perspectives on things, and how that can contribute to their communities.
F: Children and young people are experts in their own right – especially in terms of the events and experiences that shape their own lives, so there’s no better person to get involved regarding that than young people themselves. As someone who is from Scotland, I think we perhaps place a heavier emphasis on children and young people’s voices in decision making – so it’s so important that organisations and Foundations like the Co-op Foundation are sharing that practice to other aspects of the UK, ensuring that children and young people do feel heard, respected and listened to within decision making.
- How would you describe your experience of being a part of the Future Communities Collective?
K: I’ve been a part of the FCC since 2023 and we did Round one of the Future Communities and it was a wholesome experience. We had a lot of opportunity to learn about grantmaking and improve our social awareness in doing unconscious bias training. It was an exceptional experience, especially as you don’t often get the opportunity to be exposed to a professional setting, especially at this level and at this stage in your life. But we had the opportunity to engage with a large amount of money that ultimately made a huge impact on the lives of young people across the country. Now we’re looking at FCF Round Two and it seems to be better than last year, to be honest! There are more voices, more experiences, and I think the Co-op Foundation’s really found its footing in working with young people.
F: Since joining the collective a few months ago, it’s been a really interesting experience for me on a personal level. The collective has brought together so many voices from across the UK, which is just so brilliant because everyone brings with them their different backgrounds, their different experiences, and as a result has brilliant insights. It’s amazing to be involved right from the beginning of that journey and to go on that journey with the applications, with the different applicants, and with each other, moving forward. It’s been great to inform how we structure our own criteria, work with the applicants, and then of course hand out funding as well.
- What has been the most rewarding part of being an FCC member? What has been the most challenging?
K: I’d say the most rewarding part of being a part of the FCC has been seeing the impact of the work that we do. I had the opportunity to voice the Co-op Foundation’s impact report and it was overwhelming to see how much the funding meant to the organisations, especially seeing how it impacted one organisation in particular, that I held close to my heart. It’s just amazing to see its impact in real time. As for the most rewarding part of this round, I would say it’s been amazing to see the next generation of the FCC, because I’m aging out, so I won’t be here next time around! So I’m pleased to see that the FCC will be left in very, very capable hands.
Challenging parts? I think it’s always challenging to see organisations that you believe are very deserving not get funding. But obviously there are always disagreements about eligibility and sometimes you get more agreement, sometimes you don’t, and it’s something you have to accept.
F: For me, the most rewarding part has definitely been meeting, working with and collaborating with others. I find it so rewarding to hear how our discussions are then reflected in the work going forward and how our views are taken on board. And then when you’re having discussions around the work that we’re involved in, or the work that different organisations that apply to the fund are involved in, it’s something you can look at, reflect on, and just be very proud of. It’s especially rewarding because it does have that impact on children and young people’s lives – especially as they go on into adulthood, it really shapes futures.
In terms of challenges, I think it can be quite challenging to decide your negotiables when discussing grantmaking. Of course there are a few non-negotiables regarding the fund, and the things we can’t have a lot of input into, but when you’re discussing the negotiables, you have to be quite strict, which is difficult.
- What skills do you have that FCC is helping you to develop?
S: I’ve had previous grantmaking experience through my work as a Co-op Member Pioneer, but many of our team haven’t, and it’s a completely different sphere, the grantmaking that goes on in this team. So being able to learn about restricted and unrestricted funding, and things that I’d never really considered in my grantmaking experience has been really valuable for me.
F: From previous youth participation and volunteering experiences I’ve definitely been able to have the opportunity to develop my communication skills and different areas of confidence that I maybe lacked before. But something that the FCC has really honed in on is giving us that opportunity to develop that further. I think it’s great because there are conversations that we have had already where we don’t necessarily agree with each other and I think that’s a really good chance and place to be able to find what we do agree on, what commonalities we have and what experiences we share. And then we can work together collaboratively to then communicate to come to a solution that we all agree on.
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