Building a Better Future

We’re an independent charitable foundation funded by Lloyds Banking Group. We work in partnership with small and local charities, people and communities, changing lives and working towards a more just and compassionate society.

The needs and aspirations of people drive our work. We strengthen the small and local charities that support them and the communities they live in, and advocate for a better future.

Through unrestricted funding, support to develop, and influencing policy and practice we help small and local charities thrive, communities grow stronger, and people overcome complex issues and barriers so they can transform their lives.

Our vision

is of a just and compassionate society where people facing complex social issues and barriers have the opportunity to thrive

Our mission

is to partner with small and local charities, people and communities working towards a more just and compassionate society

Emily Carter, Business Development Manager, Handcrafted Projects

Our values

We are ambitious and not afraid to innovate, take risks, and push for change to break down barriers people face, strengthen charities, foster more connected communities and a more just society.

We are rooted we listen and learn from others to understand the challenges people, charities, and communities face and commit to act on evidence and knowledge to make lasting change happen.

We are inclusive we support one another, and together build a space where everyone is embraced, trusted, and valued so they can be themselves and fulfil their potential.

Our approach for 2022 - 2026 and beyond

Our focus will be on where we can collectively make the greatest change happen from the impact of our funding, support, and resources to the difference charities make to people's lives.

Collaboration will underpin everything we do. We'll help create more spaces and opportunities for charities to work together, build impactful partnerships and wider networks to help them achieve their goals, influence systems, practice and policy and improve people's lives.

We'll continue to work hard to improve ourselves. We'll ensure we keep listening and learning, challenging ourselves. We'll ensure diversity, equity and inclusion is central to our work. 

We'll achieve this by being more than a funder:

We will fund

small and local charities and communities, building relationships with them and investing in their work helping people overcome complex issues.

We will develop

and help charities and organisation to grow stronger and more resilient, drawing on our connections with Lloyds Banking Group and other partners so charities can thrive beyond our funding and achieve long lasting change. 

We will influence

those with power locally and nationally to address the root causes and consequences of complex issues and build a more just and compassionate society. 

Building a Better Future in Wales

This Strategy report outlines our support in Wales so far, and our specific focus areas during 2022 - 2026 and beyond. 

Caroline Johnson, Director, Amazing Grace Spaces

Our strategic objectives

1. We’ll support small and local charities making a life changing difference to people’s lives. Our focus will be charities with an income of £25,000–£500,000 where our unrestricted funding and support to develop can make the greatest impact. We’ll support those charities who understand the complexity of the challenges people face or the barriers they experience, particularly due to ethnicity or disability, and are best placed to make a genuine difference to people’s lives.
2. We will support charities and their partners to collaborate so they can strengthen communities and shape policies, structures and society. We’ll support small and local charities to come together and build partnerships with councils, public bodies and other organisations working locally to improve people’s lives by influencing systems, structures, and policies.
3. We will influence practice and policy locally, regionally and nationally to tackle the causes and consequences of complex issues and the barriers people face. We’ll work with the charities and partnerships we support and draw on our insights and research to seek to address the root causes of disadvantage. We’ll promote better ways of working – particularly around the key issues of accommodation, the welfare system and supporting refugees – and help people, small charities and communities to thrive.
4. We will work effectively and efficiently to maximise our impact, sharing resources, opportunity and power. We’ll ensure diversity, equity and inclusion is at the heart of our own organisation: all our work, who we are, what we do, how we do it. We’ll make sure we have the people, approaches and good management to deliver all of this Strategy effectively.

The difference we hope to make

For people: Developing and sharing the most effective service models for people facing complex issues, Black, Asian and minority ethnic, and D/deaf and disabled communities. 

For charities: We will maximise the resilience of small and local charities through a combination of funding and development support. 

For communities: Support communities to collaborate and tackle their most entrenched and pressing issues.  

For society: Share our learning with other sectors and places and influence national policy for the benefit of small charities and the communities they serve. 

Read a summary report of our strategy

Click the image to read a summary version of our latest strategy, Building a better future.

Lessons from our 2018 - 2022 strategy

The Lessons for Funder Practice report sets out eight lessons in funder practice from our work from our Reaching Further strategy, 2018 - 2022.