We work with not-for-profit organisations in Greater London and focus on:

• Early Years, Literacy and Transitions from Secondary Education (Special Initiatives)
• Young people’s mental health and wellbeing

We also work closely with our 16 Associated Schools and Colleges to support pastoral care - whole school, preventative approaches to support pupils’ mental health and wellbeing and support School Leadership initiatives which enable headteachers and governors at our Associated Schools & Colleges to be confident, inspiring and successful leaders.

Rationale

The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequalities and negatively affected young people’s mental health and well-being, in addition to personal, social, emotional and academic development in the UK. These issues intersect to impact children already facing severe disadvantage with the situation set to worsen with the cost-of-living crisis, disproportionately affecting those already living in poverty.

Special Initiatives  

We fund organisations with a track-record in supporting young people facing disadvantage in Greater London, piloting new approaches to a specific issue or to scale-up an existing approach, in line with our Young People and Education programme priorities.

We work, typically for a three to four-year period, with charities and learning partners across our three strands Early Years, Literacy and Transitions from Secondary Education.

Our aim is to increase sector knowledge through independent evaluation and by facilitating collaborative learning amongst our grantees.  This approach not only allows our partners to evaluate their findings and adapt their delivery, but also increases our understanding of the sector and shapes future grantmaking.  

School Leadership 

School leadership can have a substantial impact on the quality of education students receive.  We support several initiatives which enable headteachers and governors to be confident, inspiring and successful leaders. 

Our current partners include: The Churchill Fellowship, Windsor Leadership, University of Winchester: Centre for Real World Learning and the Chartered College of Teaching. 

Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing

We provide grants to some of our Associated Schools and Colleges to deliver mental wellbeing programmes for their students.

Through a partnership with the Anna Freud Centre for Children and Families, we are helping them understand the differences these schemes are making and we will disseminate this learning to other schools. 

Associated Schools and Colleges

The Company has links to a diverse group of 16 Associated Schools and Colleges, which the Company supports by:

• Appointing governors to 14 of the schools and colleges
• Encouraging the governors and heads to be effective leaders through training 
• Supporting the wellbeing of their students through the Anna Freud initiative
• Providing a grant making programme that the schools can access for initiatives which align with our Special Initiatives