Long-term support

Posted on 21 January 2025

Working with our community partners to help them grow and be sustainable for the long-term

Our community partners provide local services that support and empower our customers to create successful and resilient lives for themselves and their communities. From youth programmes, to jobs and workplace training, advice and support services and community gardens, our partners play a key role, so it’s important that we continue to support them. 

Since COVID, Hyde Charitable Trust (HCT) has steadily increased its annual funding to partners, with £510K awarded in 2023/24 and £684K in 2024/25. This includes grants to help partners to continue to deliver support, and grants for them to develop and deliver new services, or enhance existing ones. 

“It’s important to build partnerships in our communities, with grassroots organisations, schools, local authorities, the NHS, adult education providers and regional and national organisations,” explained Felicity Hunt, Hyde’s Communities and Social Impact Director. 

“This helps us develop a deep understanding of our communities, the people living there, their immediate priorities and any gaps in provision they face. It also helps us identify the needs of charitable organisations delivering services to those communities.” 

A key thing is to provide practical support to develop the capacity and sustainability of our partners; creating networks between them that hadn’t previously existed, and creating the potential to unlock new opportunities, particularly around funding. 

One partner that has benefited from this approach is award-winning youth charity Prospex, which provides vital support and outreach work to 8-19 year olds in north Islington. 

HCT has been working with Prospex since 2014. Hyde Foundation started working with Prospex in 2016, when the charity moved to our ‘Underground’ community centre on the Ringcross estate. As austerity measures took hold in the early 2010s, and local authorities cut their youth provision, we were one of many to step in, to help Prospex plug that gap. 

Since then, HCT has awarded about £100,000 to Prospex, to support its services, which include providing hot meals to young people from all walks of life, and offering a range of activities, from music-making to outdoor adventures. 

The combination of HCT grants and support from Hyde Foundation has meant Prospex has been able to secure a range of match funding over the years - from other housing associations, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, the National Lottery, City Bridge Trust, Wates and private donors. 

Most recently, HCT awarded £70,600 to Prospex over three years. This money will support the vital work of Prospex’s Street teams, who engage with and support vulnerable young people at risk of being drawn into gangs, knife crime and anti-social behaviour, across the Ringcross estate and the surrounding areas. 

Prospex CEO Richard ‘Beef’ Franklin said: “Knives are a real issue – and sadly, a lot of young people that come here don’t feel safe at home or on the streets.” 

Felicity added: “We’re proud to have supported Prospex’s growth over the years. From its humble beginnings, operating out of a broom cupboard in 2001, Prospex is thriving. 

“We’ve taken this ‘Funder Plus’ approach with our partners for many years and we hope success stories like this will encourage others to take advantage of the opportunities on offer.” 

Find out about the support Hyde Charitable Trust and Hyde Foundation gave to our community partners last year in the HCT Annual Report 2023/24 (PDF, 17MB), and the Hyde Foundation Impact Report 2023/24 (PDF, 2.18MB).