Within the field of education, the Trustees recognised that certain of the grants that they had made could more accurately be considered as falling within the general heading of young people’s wellbeing; and they are increasingly aware that wellbeing generally, and good mental health in particular, is often a prerequisite for successful learning and making the transition to adult life. Accordingly, Trustees formally created a new grant-making category, Wellbeing of Young People.
AKO Foundation support since 2022
Babyzone was created to give families with very young children opportunities equivalent to those that young people have at their local OnSide Youth Zone (see below). Early years activities and classes are made available at Youth Zones during the school day, when the facilities would otherwise be unused.
AKO Foundation support new in 2025
The Beginnings Fund is a major philanthropic initiative launched in April 2025, focused on one of the most underfunded yet solvable challenges in global health: maternal and newborn mortality in Africa. Each year, 182,000 women and 1.2m newborns die across the continent from largely preventable causes – a scale of avoidable loss that the fund’s founders are determined to address.
Working in close partnership with the ministries of health of ten African countries – Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe – the Beginnings Fund deploys philanthropic capital across three interconnected areas: strengthening and expanding the maternal and newborn health workforce; scaling access to low-cost, evidence-based equipment, medicines and interventions; and reinforcing the critical systems – including data infrastructure, emergency transport and referral networks – on whuch quality care depends. By 2030, the fund aims to prevent more than 300,000 avoidable deaths and improve the quality of care for 34 million women and newborns.
AKO Foundation support since 2019
The Foundation and the Jamie Oliver Group together founded Bite Back, with the goal of halving the rate of childhood obesity in the United Kingdom, while at the same time eliminating the gap in obesity rates between children from more and less affluent backgrounds. Bite Back aims to build a youth movement with the authenticity and critical mass needed to serve as a credible advocate to national and local government, schools, hospitals, and other institutions that provide food to young people. It also seeks to identify creative media strategies to engage key audiences effectively.
AKO Foundation support since 2018
Frontline is England’s largest children’s social work charity, dedicated to improving the lives of the 700,000 children and young people who need a social worker each year. Frontline recruits, trains and supports outstanding individuals to become specialist children’s social workers, as well as providing leadership development to children’s social work managers and supervisors. About 1 in 10 children’s social workers have been trained by Frontline, joining a growing Fellowship of over 3,700 social workers at all stages of their careers who use their excellent practice, leadership skills and innovative ideas to drive sector-wide change and build brighter, safer futures for vulnerable children and young people.
AKO Foundation support since 2023
KUP is an independent charity founded in Kristiansand, Norway, in 1991 by the local church community and YMCA/YWCA. It works with children and young people – especially those in challenging life situations – through regular group activities and individual mentorship to foster life skills, resilience, and a sense of belonging.
AKO Foundation support new in 2025
MOT Norge (MOT is Norwegian for ‘courage’) is a Norwegian non-profit organisation founded nearly 30 years ago, working to build resilience, life skills and courage in young people. Operating exclusively through prevention, MOT delivers universal programmes to whole school classes as part of the regular timetable, aiming to strengthen protective factors and prevent challenges such as bullying, exclusion and mental health problems before they arise. Its approach is deliberately positive, focusing on what young people can do and achieve rather than on problems or deficits.
MOT works accross all school levels in Norway and employs 25 staff alongside around 1,000 volunteers, the majority of whom are school staff trained to deliver its programmes directly. MOT also appoints ‘Young Motivators’ – pupils who take on a peer leadership role in embedding its philosophy. Its whole-school model engages students, teachers and parents alike, with the goal of strengthening overall school culture and wellbeing.
AKO Foundation support since 2017
OnSide provides modern, world class, custom-built youth centres (‘Youth Zones’) for young people aged 8–19 (up to 25 for those with additional needs). Located in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, the Youth Zones offer a wide range of sport, art and enterprise activities, giving young people somewhere to go, something to do and someone to talk to. An independent study found that anti-social behaviour decreases by between 30% and 77% in areas surrounding a Youth Zone.
AKO Foundation support since 2022
The Foundation’s Trustees are increasingly aware that good mental health is often a vital prerequisite for effective teaching and learning. Place2Be is a leading children’s mental health charity with over 25 years of experience supporting pupils, families, and school staff across the UK. The organisation provides in-school mental health services, including one-to-one and group counselling, and delivers expert training and professional qualifications to help build a mentally healthy school environment.