The Listening Fund

Home > Closed for applications > Listening Fund

The Listening Fund was initially developed by a group of committed funders – Comic Relief, Corra Foundation, The National Lottery Community Fund, The Gannochy Trust and William Grant Foundation – who recognised that more was needed to help increase opportunities for the voices of children and young people to be heard. 

The Listening Fund Logo Corra

The aim of the investment collaboration was to develop and embed listening practices within organisations allowing for more active and responsive listening.

In August 2018, the funders undertook a three-month development phase speaking to youth organisations and children and young people and  listening to their thoughts and opinions on what the focus of the fund should be. These views and recommendations helped shape the criteria and application process of The Listening Fund.

We do not anticipate this fund reopening. 

£425K

Distributed in funding

11

Grants made

60%

Success rate

If you’d like to find out more about this fund, please contact kelly@corra.scot.

Which organisations received funding?

View the organisations who received funding. We also upload our grant holder data to 360 Giving.

What next?  (The Listening Fund Toolkit)

With the conclusion of The Listening Fund in 2022, partners have collaborated on the creation of a Listening Toolkit – a resource that forms part of the fund’s legacy, offering practical tips and insights for others looking to change their organisational listening culture and practices.

The toolkit shares resources and activities used by four Listening Fund Partners: Access to Industry, The Moira Anderson Foundation, The Junction, and Girvan Youth Trust. They have been carefully and collaboratively curated with staff members, and in consultation with children and young people, to create a reference that advocates listening as a core mechanism for engagement with children and young people.

You can download the full toolkit, plus all the individual tools below. 

Further reading and related content

The fund was evaluated independently by The Centre for Youth Impact. Several reports were produced that document the approach of the listening fund alongside the impact it had. You can listen to a short podcast about this and read the reports below. There are also blogs written by organisations and communities involved with The Listening Fund. 

There's so much to learn from listening

There's so much to learn from listening

Insight from The National Lottery Community Fund

Insight from The National Lottery Community Fund