The Young Foundation

Registered charity 274345 · since 1977youngfoundation.org·United Kingdom·Updated 30 October 2026

At a glance

£1.5M
Annual giving, year to 31 December 2024
From the Charity Commission register

Key takeaways

  • The Young Foundation's stated work is community research and social innovation, carried out with local people, so a project that uses local knowledge to tackle local challenges is the closest fit, and its stated priority is the UK.
  • The Community Knowledge Fund is described as an open fund with grants worth between £10,000 and £100,000, so a request should sit within that range; no grant range is stated for the funder as a whole.
  • No application process is published, so the sensible first step is to get in touch using the contact shown rather than sending an unsolicited application.
  • Neither the annual report nor its website says anything about timing, deadlines or how competitive the fund is, so check these directly with the funder before planning around them.

Overview

The Young Foundation is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (charity number 274345).

The Young Foundation is a charity registered in England and Wales that describes itself as a research and action based institute, with a mission to develop better-connected communities and shape a fairer future. With roots dating back more than 70 years, it asks what works for UK communities. Its annual giving is £1,461,611. Its Community Knowledge Fund is an open fund that supports community groups and organisations around the UK, and it also runs the Community Research Networks programme, a collaboration funded by UKRI that supports nine networks over five years.

What they fund

Priority Areas

The Young Foundation’s work centres on community research and social innovation. It brings communities, organisations and policymakers together to shape a fairer future, working with local people to understand issues affecting them, involve them in research and innovate with them for positive change. Its stated focus areas are better prospects, a fairer, greener planet and empowered UK places. Through the Community Knowledge Fund, it has supported community groups and organisations around the UK with grants for ideas that use knowledge in communities to address challenges that matter locally. Its approach emphasises participation and collaboration.

Themes

  • Community research
  • Social innovation
  • Better prospects
  • A fairer, greener planet
  • Empowered UK places

Geographic Focus

Priority: The UK.

How to apply

No application process is published in the charity's annual report, its register entry or its website. The contact shown is for getting in touch.

Application success factors

What the charity says:

  • The Community Knowledge Fund supports ideas that use knowledge in communities to address challenges that matter locally.

Where they fund

Where it says it funds

  • United Kingdom

Similar funders

Funders supporting work similar to The Young Foundation.

Five years of accounts

Financial yearIncomeExpenditureGrants paidAccounts document
year to 31 December 2020£1,896,383£2,126,147—Accounts for year to 31 December 2020
year to 31 December 2021£5,090,124£2,497,398—Accounts for year to 31 December 2021
year to 31 December 2022£2,808,413£2,941,463—Accounts for year to 31 December 2022
year to 31 December 2023£2,335,271£3,696,492£936,108Accounts for year to 31 December 2023
year to 31 December 2024£4,122,436£4,276,667£1,461,611Accounts for year to 31 December 2024

Income vs grants paid

IncomeGrants paid

Total value each financial year

YE 2023
£936k grants
YE 2024
£1.5M grants

Grants paid stayed within income across the 2 years shown.

  • Grants paid, year to 31 December 2023; year to 31 December 2024: grants to institutions, as reported on the charity register (Part B).

— No grants figure for those years.

Figures from the charity’s filed accounts and its register entry. The document icon links to the charity’s entry on the Charity Commission register, where its filed accounts can be found.

Sources

Other sources

  • Annual report (year to 31 December 2024)

This profile draws on the funder’s own website as well as its filed accounts.

Sources last checked on 30 October 2026.

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