How we do it
We nourish leaders who have early stage ideas and the vision and determination to shift systems in long-term and meaningful ways.
We back people, individually and collectively, to drive change for all young people
We invest in early-stage leaders and ideas, opening doors to the financial and social capital needed to break down barriers to change.
We back leaders who share our vision of a world where all young people unlock their agency, connect to their purpose, build meaningful relationships, and grow to thrive now and in the future.
The people who lead the projects we fund think big, take risks and make things happen because they understand there is no time to waste. We support projects that are at an early stage and provide support so that they have the potential to grow and make a difference nationally.
Driving impact: the numbers
Visionary leaders backed
In follow-on funding raised by our changemakers for their early stage projects - 12 times our initial £5m investment.
Global partner organisations making the case to transform systems for young people.
Big Change’s willingness to take a chance on a new founder, with a bold idea, has been a huge contributor to the initial and enduring success of The Difference. Five years on, with backing from Big Change plus the amazing connections made through their Pioneer network, The Difference is a thriving charity working with hundreds of schools and helping thousands of students to feel safe, included and successful.
Kiran Gill, The Difference
What We Fund
Big Change backs people and ideas with the potential to enable all young people to thrive in life.
We fund leaders, with bold early-stage initiatives, who are working towards long-term system change — always starting from the lived experience of young people and the communities around them.
Please note, we don't accept unsolicited funding requests. Instead, we use funding routes that help us find and support the right people at the right time, and those closest to the work.
We look for:
- Work that shifts systems, not just symptoms
- Leaders with purpose, courage, and lived or learned experience.
- Ideas with the potential for long-term impact
- Approaches that centre and share power with young people
- Opportunities where our support can unlock meaningful progress
We are committed to making our processes equitable, transparent, and accessible, and to continually learning from those we fund. We also aim to work alongside them over the longer term through our Big Change community.
We have four routes to funding
1. Open call funding
Every two years, we run an open application process called the Spark Awards, which are designed to find and support leaders with early-stage ideas with the potential to unlock big change for young people. The Spark Awards provide flexible funding, learning support, and access to our community of peers and partners. The next Spark Awards will open in 2027. Sign up to our newsletter to ensure you are the first to hear when we announce them.
2. Scouting and referral-based funding
Alongside our open rounds, we run strategic and time-limited funding processes using our scouting and referral model. This approach allows us to:
- Reach leaders who may not apply through traditional routes
- Focus on emerging needs or opportunities
- Reduce barriers for leaders who are often overlooked by mainstream funding
These rounds are invitation-only and change depending on the insights we gather from young people, communities, and our wider network.
3. Collective and participatory funding
We are designing a new funding model that brings together our grantee community, young people, and external partners to foster collective action. This approach will focus on specific themes and will:
- Shift more power to those closest to the work
- Ensure funding reflects lived experience and community priorities
- Strengthen collaboration across and beyond our network
- We will share updates as this model takes shape in the coming year.
4. Responsive community collaborative funding
We set aside a small amount of flexible funding each year to support emergent opportunities led by our existing Big Change community (those we are funding currently or have funded previously). This funding is available when:
- Community members are collaborating with a shared desire to take action on a specific issue or to respond to a specific opportunity
- The work would not be possible (or would be much harder to achieve) without our intervention (e.g. by providing short-term capacity support to enable work to take place).
- Rapid support would help them influence policy, respond to a timely opportunity, or deepen systemic impact
This helps our community act quickly, work collectively, and amplify its influence at key moments. Leaders within our Big Change community who are interested in exploring this funding route should reach out to the Big Change team to discuss.
Our Approach to Funding
We invest in changemakers from day one
We embrace the uncertainty of early-stage ventures, dedicating most of our funding over the past decade to bold, new ideas at their inception.
We commit for the long term
We know that Impact doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time. We give our community the space, support, and time to test their ideas and drive real change.
We back Big Changemakers
The leaders we support don’t just think big, they lead differently. They are close and connected to the problems they’re solving and collaborate to create lasting impact.
We’re intergenerational and inclusive
We believe that there is strength in supporting all generations of leaders, and that there is as much wisdom and value in lived experience as there is in years of experience in the workplace. We create change with, not to, young people, and ensure their needs are at the center of every project we back.
We’re impact first
We support a diverse range of people, projects, and enterprises, because what matters is that they deliver meaningful, human-centred change for young people.
Our support goes beyond funding
Our community offer provides all those who receive our grant funding with a space to build trust and relationships, learn with and from each other, co-create new ideas and insights, and champion big change together - both during their funded period and beyond.
Our values unite us
We are undaunted
We are catalytic
We are human-centred
We are connected
