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.

Selected Beneficiaries

Wellbeing of Young People

Babyzone

AKO Foundation support new in 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.

Bite Back 2030 

AKO Foundation support since 2019

The Foundation and the Jamie Oliver Group together founded Bite Back 2030, with the goal of halving the rate of childhood obesity in the United Kingdom by 2030, 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 that will have sufficient authenticity and critical mass so that it can act as a credible advocate to government (national and local), schools, hospitals and other entities delivering food on a large scale to young people, and will make progress towards identifying the creative media through which to engage key audiences. 

Frontline

AKO Foundation support since 2018

Frontline is England’s largest children’s social work charity, working to make life better for the 700,000 children and young people who need a social worker every 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.

Institutt for Spiseforstyrrelser

AKO Foundation support since 2022

The Institutt for Spiseforstyrrelser (Institute for Eating Disorders Foundation) undertakes a number of related activities: treatment, research, teaching and education.  It offers psychotherapy treatment programmes tailored to people with eating disorders, and to the wishes and needs of their relatives. 

OnSide Youth Zones

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 drops by between 30% and 77% around a Youth Zone.

AKO Foundation