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

In recent years there has been an increase in rates of mental health and wellbeing challenges among young people. Our Mental Health and Wellbeing programme aims to support mental health and wellbeing of young people through the following:

Mental Health & Wellbeing (MHWB) Community Projects in Greater London, funded via Propel that support projects addressing systemic issues to achieve longer-term sustainable change, develop more equitable funding practices and encourage collaboration in London. 

Wellbeing Evaluation Programmes to support our Associated Schools and Colleges’ pastoral care - whole school, preventative approaches for pupils’ mental health and wellbeing. 

In 2023 we commissioned St Mary's University and Maudsley Learning Trust as our learning partner. They work with our Associated Schools and Colleges to support whole school, preventative approaches in their settings. They also work with our MHWB Community Projects to facilitate collaboration and pull together the findings from their projects.

Associated Schools & Colleges

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

• Facilitating collaborative learning between the Associated Schools & Colleges
• Supporting Heads and Governors to be effective leaders
• Appointing and nominating Governors to the Associated Schools & Colleges 
• Supporting the wellbeing of students 
• Providing a grant making programme that the schools can access for initiatives which align with our Young People & Education programme