From generating an idea, to scaling up, we work closely with our Changemakers to encourage and accelerate inspired thinking. They have access to Royal London’s knowledge and expertise, tailored business support and funding.
Meet the Changemakers
Through our Changemakers Programme, we've supported a total of 30 social enterprises that align with our Purpose. Each organisation has a focus on helping to build financial resilience or moving fairly to a sustainable world.
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Trust Leeds
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Lendology
Previous case studies
Breadwinners
Half of young refugees struggle to find employment in the UK. Breadwinners want to change that, by supporting refugees and young people seeking asylum into employment through artisan baked goods.
Vanessa, a refugee from Nigeria, was struggling to find work after the asylum process, but once she found Breadwinners she never looked back. The Changemakers helped her to find her feet, her confidence, and her calling in life.
Here’s her story.
Video Transcript
Caption: Royal London is a mutual on a mission to build financial resilience.
Caption: Our Changemakers Programme helps fund social enterprises like Breadwinners.
Caption: Walk a mile in Vanessa’s shoes. After having her life changed, by a Changemaker…
Marlene – Youth Worker and Breadwinners Beneficiary
Martin – Changemaker and Director of Breadwinners
Vanessa: Hi Martin, how are you?
Martin: I’m good and you? How’s it going?
Vanessa: I’m doing alright, it’s very cold to be honest.
Martin: So, when I started Breadwinners five years ago I wanted to support refugee wellbeing by them being able to access work. How was it to work with Breadwinners and what does Breadwinners mean to you?
Vanessa: Working with Breadwinners has helped me a lot. It’s helped improve my people skills. I remember my first time working in the market stall. How I was training to talk to people, to make people smile. It’s something that I would never have done before because I was a little bit locked up in my cage.
Martin: Vanessa [what] is it like for young refugees to start their life in the UK?
Vanessa: You’re new in this country and it’s like, first of all there’s the language barrier. And no-on can understand what you're saying. And then you have to start looking for housing as well. It’s something I also experienced. Searching for housing.
Martin: And how did it feel to actually support other young refugees?
Vanessa: It felt very rewarding because they would come to me to ask questions about the bread, about how to talk to customers. And I felt very happy to be there training people, it felt like training my younger sisters or siblings as well.
Martin: You’ve been training young people and I also wanted to ask you, what are you going to do now? What’s next for you?
Vanessa: I’ve always had a dream of owning a charity that supports people that come into the country and need housing. I think that’s my dream job to be honest.
Martin: That’s amazing. Maybe we can partner in the future, huh?
Vanessa: We should, we really should.
Martin: And Royal London Changemakers is helping me and Breadwinners to do that. Do you think we are making change?
Vanessa: Well Breadwinners has changed my life a lot since giving me working experience. I really can’t wait to see what you do in the future.
Martin: I want to see where you go.
Vanessa: I am going to go so many places. But I’m just going to let you in on a secret. I really don’t like bread.
Martin: What?
Vanessa: Yeah!
Martin: You’re kidding?
Vanessa: No, no. I’m not kidding at all.
Martin: How did you sell so much bread then?
Vanessa: Well the training helped a lot.
Caption: Changemakers have a lasting impact on people and communities.
Caption: Real people. Real change. Made possible by our members and customers like you.
Caption: Discover how our Changemakers are helping to change lives at RoyalLondon.com/Changemakers
Pocket Forest
Pocket Forest are a social enterprise on a mission to reconnect people with nature by bringing the environmental and mental health benefits of tree planting to nature-deprived communities.
Catherine, the Co-founder is passionate about creating a greener future which is equal to all.
Here’s her story.
Video Transcript
Great to see you.
You too!
Welcome back! Delighted to have you back.
It's so nice to be back. To plant the forest.
Sorry it's not a more beautiful day for us.
Oh, it's a bit windy, isn't it? Will we head in for...
Yeah, let's go in and put the kettle on.
So, Pocket Forests is all about bringing nature back into people's lives, retrofitting nature back into cities and reconnecting ourselves with nature as much as we can. And we love to work in communities like the community here in Carline. Tell me a bit about what happens here.
So, here in Carline Learning Centre, we provide an alternative education to young students who are identified as being at risk of early school leaving. We provide the alternative setting supported by social care team. I'm hoping Pocket Forests can bring some interaction for them in nature and allow them to see the benefits of it.
Yeah, we're always fascinated by the science around this and there's so much more evidence about what spending time in nature can do for us. It can make us feel happier, calmer, more creative. It can just unjangle our heads in some way. So, I presume that's something that's going to help the students here in Carline.
A number of our students would live in apartment blocks. They would live in, you know, lower socio-economic communities and some live in homeless services so they don't have access to gardens.
And I suppose now we understand better the benefits of nature. It is very much an equality and fairness issue to have that nature available to everybody and every community and especially in those urban communities.
So, Catherine, how do you bring communities on board with climate action?
With Pocket Forests we take one good step and nature takes ten. And I think allowing people who've never planted before to be part of that one good step, it's just a game changer for them because they just feel I can do this, and I can just give nature the right conditions and look what happens. So, it's really positive. I think it makes people really happy, makes people feel like they really belong in a climate action space.
So, Catherine Pocket Forests are getting busier and busier. You’re working with so many different community projects, so what's the plan for the future?
Well, like our forests, we're going to grow and grow and we're going to hopefully make what we do on a bigger scale and in all kinds of urban areas so we can bring the joy and the magic to more and more people and keep coming back to Carline and see how this forest grows.
That’ll be great.
Yeah, it’ll be great. Look forward to that.
Pocket Power
Pocket Power are an enterprise on a mission to tackle the poverty premium by helping people on low incomes find better deals on their household bills, through providing personalised 1:1 support.
Marlene, a carer from Reading, has had her life turned around by the Changemakers. From feeling out of control to confident with the help of Pocket Power.
Here's her story.
Video Transcript
Caption: Royal London is a mutual on a mission to build financial resilience.
Caption: Our Changemakers Programme helps fund social enterprises like Pocket Power.
Caption: Walk a mile in Marlene’s shoes. After having her life changed, by a Changemaker…
Marlene – Carer and Pocket Power beneficiary
Louis – Changemaker and Founder of Pocket Power
Louis: Marlene. It’s so nice to finally meet you.
Marlene: Hi, likewise.
Louis: I’m Louis from Pocket Power.
Marlene: And I’m Marlene, as you know.
Louis: And I’m really looking forward to chatting today about your experience with Pocket Power. We obviously set out to help people save money on their household bills.
Marlene: Yes.
Louis: What was your motivation for having a chat with us?
Marlene: I think I was just came to the end of my tether. It was just too much. I was not opening letters. I was finding it really difficult to sleep at night. And that whole overwhelming feeling.
Louis: In terms of the impact, did anything actually change in the day to day for you?
Marlene: Oh, a lot! For start, I saved some money. About £1000…
Louis: Oh my goodness!
Marlene: And also, on my mental health, everything was so much clearer.
Louis: We look to save people money. But it’s not about the money. It’s about what it does, about the way it allows you to feel more comfortable, less stressed.
Marlene: Oh yes, it was like a complete weight off my shoulders. And you feel empowered and just your every day life just becomes manageable. My experience with Pocket Power has helped me to tell others and really given them the confidence that there is, you know, organisations out there that can help them. As a carer, in the capacity that I work, I’ve seen a lot of my clients really, really concerned, about the rise in bills and how they’re going to cope. And I’ve been able to tell them of my experience, and that’s given them a bit of hope.
Louis: It’s about not just about helping one person in that moment, but trying to equip people with the skills and knowledge that give them the confidence to go make decisions. And what’s really great is when we’ve been providing support, we’ve also received some support ourselves so there’s people out there trying to help organisations like us reach those most in need. We’ve been really lucky. We’ve been on the Royal London Changemakers Programme and they’ve supported us with mentorship, with funding, with specialist advice.
Marlene: That’s amazing. I’m so very grateful. I’m honoured to be a part of it.
Caption: Changemakers have a lasting impact on people and communities.
Caption: Real people. Real change. Made possible by our members and customers like you.
Caption: Discover how our Changemakers are helping to change lives at RoyalLondon.com/Changemakers
How it works
Working across the UK and Ireland with our partner, the School for Social Entrepreneurs, our Changemakers Programme develops and invests in ideas and solutions from ambitious social enterprises.
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Two years of support
We offer expert consultancy and learning sessions with other social entrepreneurs in the same sector.
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Grants and funding
We offer a grant of £20,000, to support the enterprise’s business growth.
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Unique opportunities
Social enterprises have the chance to work with us on aligned social issues.
More information
The School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) know they can’t fix issues like poverty, climate change and poor health alone. That’s why they exist – to help 1,000 leaders of social change every year to develop the skills, strengths and networks they need to tackle society’s biggest problems. The leaders they support help millions of people in need while creating meaningful jobs, often for the most disadvantaged.
SSE run programmes that equip people to start, scale and strengthen social enterprises and organisations that make a positive difference. But they’re not a traditional school. Learning with SSE is inspiring, action-based and accessible. Their programmes are highly tailored to the specific needs of participating organisations, offering a blend of learning, funding and mentoring.
Lord Michael Young founded SSE in 1997 and today they work internationally, with teams across the UK, Canada and India.
A social enterprise is a business that puts the interests of people and the planet first. They want to change the world for the better. Like a conventional business, a social enterprise aims to make a profit – the difference is, they’ll drive the majority of their profits towards their social mission.
Social innovation is the process of creating and implementing new and better ways to meet social needs and solve social problems. While business innovations are often designed to profit an organisation, the ultimate goal of social innovation is to speed up social progress.
The School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) know they can’t fix issues like poverty, climate change and poor health alone. That’s why they exist – to help 1,000 leaders of social change every year to develop the skills, strengths and networks they need to tackle society’s biggest problems. The leaders they support help millions of people in need while creating meaningful jobs, often for the most disadvantaged.
SSE run programmes that equip people to start, scale and strengthen social enterprises and organisations that make a positive difference. But they’re not a traditional school. Learning with SSE is inspiring, action-based and accessible. Their programmes are highly tailored to the specific needs of participating organisations, offering a blend of learning, funding and mentoring.
Lord Michael Young founded SSE in 1997 and today they work internationally, with teams across the UK, Canada and India.
A social enterprise is a business that puts the interests of people and the planet first. They want to change the world for the better. Like a conventional business, a social enterprise aims to make a profit – the difference is, they’ll drive the majority of their profits towards their social mission.
Social innovation is the process of creating and implementing new and better ways to meet social needs and solve social problems. While business innovations are often designed to profit an organisation, the ultimate goal of social innovation is to speed up social progress.