FAQs

For too many young people across the UK, pervasive social, educational and economic inequalities persist that prevent them from succeeding. As the only Black driver in an elite sport, Sir Lewis’ personal experience of coming from an underserved background has made him passionate about supporting the next generation to achieve their full potential.

Mission 44 is committed to transforming the lives of young people from underserved backgrounds. To do this, we’re focused on doing three main things:

• Grant making to brilliant organisations.

• Commissioning research to better understand the challenges that exist and how they can be addressed.

• Raising awareness and campaigning for change, working with young people and their communities.

• Supporting partnerships and networks.

Our grants programmes will be the primary lever we use to improve the lives of young people from underserved communities. Our grant-making will be based on building strong relationships with organisations, adopting a flexible approach when it comes to developing proposals and delivering our funding.

In line with our values, we want our grant-making to be informed by those who have firsthand experience of the issues we seek to tackle. We will work with young people in designing and delivering our grant-making and will ensure at least one-third of our grant funding goes to organisations led by people of colour.

Proposals to Mission 44 will be mostly by invitation only. We will work with organisations to develop proposals that fit our funding programmes’ aims and objectives, seeking to shift power, reshape priorities and inform practice.

We will not only support our delivery partners financially, but will supplement our grants with access to capacity-building support that enables them to grow their sustainability, impact, and reach.

For more information please see our Grant-Making policy here.

Our work is aimed at young people up to the age of 24, who face either disadvantage or discrimination in education, employment or broader society. In particular, we aim to support:

• Young people from low-income backgrounds.

• Young people of colour.

• Care experienced young people.

• Young people excluded from school.

Our activities will focus on:

• Shifting power to individuals and groups that have traditionally been marginalised.

• Redefining priorities to more effectively focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.

• Shaping practice to be informed by ‘what works’.

PROGRESSIVE GRANTMAKING

Through flexible, trust-based and transparent grant-making, we invest in organisations who share our passion and commitment to improving the lives of young people from underserved groups.

BUILDING THE EVIDENCE BASE

Through research and evaluation, we help to grow collective understanding, both on what needs to change and in ‘what works’, to enable all young people to thrive.

WORKING IN COLLABORATION

We believe that complex challenges can only be addressed through collective impact. We will support and build coalitions and partnerships that make change happen.

YOUTH PARTICIPATION

Embracing the principle of ‘nothing about us, without us’ young people will be at the heart of everything we do, shaping our strategy and communications.

Not at the moment! Our focus is on supporting great organisations, particularly those led by people with lived experience of disadvantage or discrimination, to increase the reach and impact of their work.

We are currently focused on supporting disadvantaged young people in the UK. We intend to expand internationally in the next three years.

The more funding we have, the more young people we can reach. So at the moment, the best way to support Mission 44 is to donate to our work.

You can also sign-up to our newsletter to find out more about what we are doing and opportunities to get involved in future campaigns or initiatives.

Thanks for your support.