I’m delighted to announce the release of Mission 44’s first Annual Report, which celebrates the progress we’ve made in empowering young people from underserved communities since our launch in 2021. We’re an ambitious organisation that’s moving quickly, so it’s great through this report to be able to reflect on how far we’ve come, and how much more we want to achieve.

When Sir Lewis Hamilton shared his vision for our charity with me two years ago, I felt so inspired and excited about Mission 44’s potential to make a difference to the lives of young people facing disadvantage and discrimination. I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved since then, building one of the most diverse grantmakers in the UK, establishing 18 partnerships (a third of which are led by people of colour) and awarding £3.5m in grants by March 2023. It’s been a privilege to visit our partners and see the impact of their work on young people’s futures first-hand. You can read some examples in the report.

I’m also immensely proud that we now have our Youth Advisory Board in place, a 13-strong, passionate group that will ensure Mission 44 deeply understands young people and puts them at the heart of everything we do. A huge thank you also to the amazing generosity of Sir Lewis, companies, trusts and foundations, and individual donors who have supported our work.

Collaboration with each and every person in this growing network is fundamental to our continued growth – to borrow a line from Sir Lewis Hamilton’s letter in the report: together, we are unstoppable. Thank you for being a part of Mission 44’s journey to shift power and build a fairer, more inclusive future for young people. I hope you enjoy reading the report, and I look forward to sharing more of our progress in the years to come.

Jason Arthur
CEO, Mission 44