We were sad to hear last week that our long-term partners and friends at Year Here will be closing their doors by the end of this year. Over the last eight years, Year Here has been both a partner and a grantee and we are so proud to have worked with them on their journey. 
 
The small, incredibly hard-working team has supported 265 people from diverse backgrounds to spend a year testing and building smart solutions to social problems. Many of them have launched social ventures of their own, resulting in over 50 new social enterprises which tackle issues from homelessness to the climate crisis to refugee underemployment. 
 
We have seen some impressive ventures pitch at the Crowdbacker events that were run in collaboration between TFN and Year Here. Several of these have gone on to be funded separately by The Funding Network, including some names you might recognise, such as Settle, Element, Bread and Roses, Birdsong and Cracked It. Settle, initially supported at Crowdbacker in 2014, was funded by TFN on five other occasions with the biggest grant totaling £21,000. Settle supports vulnerable young people into their first independent home. As a result of their positive impact, Settle was picked as a Big Issue Top 100 Changemaker in 2019 and voted ‘Best Tenant Support Service’ at the 2016 National Housing Excellence Awards. This is just one example of the many brilliant social enterprises which have developed from the Year Here programme. 
 
The difference Year Here has made to the sector is immense, but as they explain in this message about closing their doors after 10 years, there is still a very long way to go. As a charity whose mission is to support ambitious young social change organisations to flourish, we feel privileged to have worked so closely with the Year Here team and their fellows. Year Here may be closing its doors, but the impact of their work will continue to grow through the ventures they have seeded and the people they have inspired.