Looking back at 2022

Published: 30 January 2023 
A dancer is posing against a bright but cloudy sky. They are slightly silhouetted, facing away from the camera with their head tilted back and arms reaching out behind them
One Dance UK. Photo credit: Dani Bower

As 2023 begins, we look back at what we’ve learned through our grant-making over the last year.

We believe that learning is a collective effort – we hope that by sharing our findings we can support the sectors in which we work and the funding community. These publications reflect on the impact we have had and the insights we plan to take forward in the year ahead.

Youth Strategic Investment Fund Summary 2017–22

The Youth Strategic Investment Fund supports the development, sustainability and impact of youth-focused organisations with a track record of working with young people to achieve positive change. These three case studies on Just for Kids Law, Leap Confronting Conflict and YoungMinds reflect on the role of long-term strategic funding in supporting organisational impact.

Read our reports to explore what each organisation has achieved through their five-year Youth Strategic Investment Fund grant.

Arts Access and Participation Fund case study: Marlborough Productions

The Arts Access and Participation Fund addresses inequalities of opportunity to access and take part in the arts. We want to support change in the way the arts are created, presented, accessed and experienced. We prioritise support for people and communities who are most affected by systemic discrimination.

Marlborough Productions works mainly in theatre and performance. Much of their work focuses on national network projects – like New Queers on the Block, a LGBTQIA+ artist and community development programme. Active since 2018, the network commissions artists working in live performance and experimental practices in Blackpool, Bradford, Brighton, Folkestone and Hastings.

A young woman dances with a balloon at a festival.
Brownton Abbey at Brighton Festival 2018. Photo credit: Vic Frankowski

Executive Director David Sheppeard summed up how important our funding is to their organisation:

The thing about this funding that I’m valuing the most is that it’s giving us options for how we work and what projects we pursue in a way we haven’t been able to do as strategically in the past. It’s always been very hand to mouth. Having this Paul Hamlyn Foundation money gives us some options.”

Racial Justice Audit Analysis of PHF’s UK Grant-making 2021/22

We applied the Funders for Race Equality Alliance (FREA) racial justice audit tool to our UK grant-making in 2021/22, analysing our portfolios in terms of the proportion of grants and funds awarded in support of Black or minoritised-led organisations and projects. This is our second annual audit, and the FREA report compares our results from 2021/22 and 2020/21 to support the Foundation to consider the changes that have been made in our grant-making and to identify areas for further improvement.

The tool and these findings have given us a new perspective on our grant-making and will inform shifts in our practice towards our commitments to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

In this blog, Ushi Bagga, Head of Programme – Arts, and Nina White, Data and Information Officer, reflect on the results of our latest racial justice audit.

Vision for the Future of Youth-led Changemaking and Activism

Our Act for Change Fund with Esmée Fairbairn Foundation supported young people who experience injustice and inequality to create and lead social change. As part of the Fund’s legacy, we commissioned Chrisann Jarrett to develop a shared Theory of Change to enable us and other funders to invest in youth-led change. Creating the conditions for youth-led change making in the UK will take collaboration from a range of partners. We are keen to work with others and hear their views on how we can work together to support the sector.

Youth Fund case study: Conscious Youth

Two Black women smile at the camera with their arms around each other. They are both wearing Conscious Youth t-shirts.
Conscious Youth. Photo credit: Sophie Simpson

Our Youth Fund provides core funding to organisations who empower young people – particularly those who are most affected by systemic oppression or discrimination – to shape their own lives and lead change.

Based in Kirklees, Conscious Youth formed to fill a gap left by cuts to local youth services. We awarded them a three-year Youth Fund grant to build their capacity, widen their reach over Kirklees and train staff. The organisation used the grant to employ two part-time staff, who took on much of the administration and service delivery work that previously fell to the directors. This in turn freed up directors Serena Johnson and Sophie Simpson to work more strategically, allowing them to undertake accredited training to further support young people experiencing the effects of trauma. In addition, Conscious Youth developed their first venue, called the Corner Hub. An open access space for young people in Huddersfield which opened in April 2022.