Funding Youth Activism: learning from the Act for Change Fund

Coventry Youth Activists

A new report and resources share learning and insights on funding youth activism from over three years of the Act for Change Fund, a £3.6m partnership fund to support youth-led organisations to create and lead social change.

The Act for Change Fund is a joint initiative between Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Esmée, in partnership with the National Lottery Community Foundation. Between 2018 and 2022, the Act for Change Fund supported 32 youth-led organisations working to challenge social injustice, find ways of overcoming inequality and give voice to issues the young people experience. As the Fund closes, we wanted to share what we learned about funding youth activism, alongside the wealth of resources that have been created by the organisations the Fund supported.

We hope you find them useful!

If you'd like to learn more about any of these resources, or share your thoughts on funding youth activism, do get in touch.

Learning and resources on Funding Youth Activism

Funding Youth Activism website

Funding Youth Activism is a go-to website for anyone interested in learning more about and investing in young people’s drive, talent and passion to tackle issues of injustice and inequality that they experience.

Vision and Theory of Change for enabling youth-led change

As part of the Act for Change Fund’s legacy, we commissioned Chrisann Jarrett to develop a shared vision and Theory of Change to enable us and other funders to invest in youth-led change. Read Vision for the future of youth-led changemaking and activism.

Act for Change Fund learning report

We worked with Centre for Youth Impact and Renaisi as the Learning Partners to the Fund. They've pulled together a learning report outlining the key messages that have emerged from the learning.

Act for Change Together festival highlights

In 2021, organisations supported through the Act for Change Fund came together to celebrate youth-led change at the Act for Change Together festival. Curated for young people and those wanting to support young people, the festival focused on challenging ingrained narratives and stereotypes as well as sharing skills, knowledge and learning on how to reach out and be better allies to young people and communities who need inclusion and connection.

Visit the festival website to catch up on podcasts, workshops, panel discussions, and videos from the amazing youth activists and adult allies and partners as they share their stories, experiences, top tips, and things they’ve learned from their time delivering youth-led social action campaigns.

Webinar: Insights from the Act for Change Fund

Together with Paul Hamlyn Foundation, we held a webinar for fellow funders with learning and insights from the Act for Change Fund, which you can watch below.

Learn more

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