Our journey began in North East Lincolnshire in 2022, where local people were already building a better future without waiting for permission.
Together, we’ve been developing the support and resources they need to galvanise change.
That work is now inspiring other towns across the UK.
Jason Stockwood was born and raised in Grimsby, his first job at 15 was a waiter and then, after school, a dock worker before he left to make his fortune in the tech industry. He returned to buy the football club he loves in his home town because he passionately wanted to see both of them thrive.
He had a vision to use the football club as a base and catalyst for the transformation of Grimsby, but he was ensure how to build a plan to make that happen.
Emily Bolton was raised just outside London, and built a career in the UK and US, designing and scaling successful solutions to social issues that had become stuck. She was then unable to work for two years due to chronic illness. As she lay in bed, she committed to being braver if she ever recovered – to focus on building the future we all need, today. During her convalescence she developed an approach to back post-industrial communities to build a thriving future for themselves. But she didn’t have anywhere to develop and test it.
Jason and Emily were introduced, by their mutual friend, social impact visionary and our current chair James Perry. Our Future was born.
Both Emily and Jason want to rebuild civic institutions that bind us in shared identity. At the heart of the approach they developed are three beliefs:
That this is about relationships and bringing together people who believe in their place and want to build a future they are proud of.
That there is an opportunity to connect resources and support into towns and back the ambitions of a place.
There is power in sharing the positive stories in a town that currently aren’t told or heard.
In the early stages of establishing Our Future, Emily and Jason were joined by Trupti Patel and Killian Troy O’Donovan, who shared the ambition and have played a central role in building and implementing this new, citizen-led approach to transforming our hometowns. It is this collective effort, alongside the collaboration and partnership of leaders from across North East Lincolnshire that has turned Our Future from an idea into reality.
We don’t deliver top-down programmes.
We co-create local plans, seed leadership and build the infrastructure to make sure money flows in a way that’s fair, flexible and lasting.
We believe the people who live in a town are best placed to shape its future.
Our role is to back their leadership, connect them to national networks, and create the funding and conditions that make long-term change possible.
Our vision is for a country where every town has the power, tools and support to lead and create the future they want.
Where communities shape the plan, steer the funding, invite in support and are proud of the future they are leaving for the next generation.
We don’t deliver top-down programmes.
We co-create local plans, seed leadership and build the infrastructure to make sure money flows in a way that’s fair, flexible and lasting.
We’re an agile, experienced team with roots in strategy, community building and social finance.
Working hand-in-hand with the people of the towns we support.
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A registered charity (charity number 1206886)
