Giving Back and Philanthropy

We recognise the inequalities and social injustices here in the UK and further afield and we take our privilege seriously. We have decided to be more public about our support to encourage peers to take action themselves. In recent years we have become increasingly concerned that not enough is being done to decolonise systems and structures so we actively engage in network discussions and offer probono consultancy to help bring about change. An example in recent years included seconding a member of the team into a national funder to support with grantmaking and data cleansing and analysis. This led to supporting the funder to change its distribution model, unlocking over £5m into by/with/for groups to level up support to communities of colour, people living with disabilities and those who identify as LGBTQAI+ and supporting wider discussions on investment into dedicated organisational development for by/with/for organisations, including infrastructure organisations.

If you are also involved in disrupting systems to bring about more equitable funding and/or NGO structures, please reach out to fiona@ym-ltd.co.uk to enquire about probono services available or connect with her and her networks for this on LinkedIn.

We are proud to have been focusing our philanthropy on supporting individuals more directly since 2005, assisting individuals in communities through a mix of donations and coaching to support individuals to access educational scholarships and enterprise. Our application process is unsolicited due to our limited resources. We focus our efforts on individuals with whom we have connected during our time volunteering and delivering professional services in Ghana, Uganda, South Africa and Manchester (namely Moss Side and Hulme).  Current projects include supporting small charities to protect green space to support the wellbeing of local communities, and assisting with a capital project to modernise a local youth centre.

Our support includes unrestricted donations to individuals, recognising the difficulty faced by individuals living in low income remote rural communities and in urban areas where competition for a small number of scholarships is too great. We have supported individuals to become qualified in various professions:

  • Social Work
  • Youth Work
  • Criminology
  • Business and Law
  • Catering
  • Engineering and electrics

We encourage pay it forward principles to discourage people from feeling they ‘owe’ us anything in return and suggest that individuals wait until they are in a secure position before they look to support others, where possible.

We recognise that not all scholarships and enterprises are successful, and see the value people can draw individually and collectively from failure. We value long-term relationships and supporting peer network development.