Roots & Routes

The Roots & Routes Fund is a funding partnership between Blagrave Trust, Co-op Foundation, Energy Saving Trust Foundation, Ovo Foundation and Impatience Earth. The Fund launched for its pilot year in April 2025.

Our collective experiences as funders identified a desperate need for a fund that supports youth-led groups and individuals working towards climate justice*, in a trusting and flexible way.

Instead of working in siloes and launching four similar funds, we decided it was time to work together on one single fund that would reduce the burden on applicants, utilise our collective knowledge and increase impact through greater amounts of funding. We believe that by working collectively, we can drive impact greater than the sum of our parts would allow.

Following our pilot year, we welcome more funders to join this collaborative opportunity, for the next iteration and further years to come.

The long-term aim of pooling our funding, knowledge and skill sets is to establish a wider base of support for funding organisations which are led-by young people, young individuals, collectives and movements, and the infrastructure organisations that support them to thrive.

*The impacts of climate change are not felt equally between rich and poor, or among older, younger and future generations. A ‘climate justice’ approach demands that actions taken to mitigate or adapt to climate change are centred on the most affected people and places. It takes an intersectional approach, recognising that climate risks can further depress social and economic outcomes for marginalised groups, including people on low incomes, women and girls, people of colour, and indigenous peoples. Often, youth climate justice action seeks systemic change, championing redistributive solutions that challenge dominant paradigms of power and economic growth.