Raise Your Hands

Raise Your Hands We invest in exceptional small charities working with young people around the UK. In the corporate world, great ideas are rewarded.

Funds quickly flow to the most effective companies. In the charity sector that isn’t always the case. The big names with big budgets receive the lion’s share of income, irrespective of their effectiveness. At Raise Your Hands we find and select small charities with proven impact.

🎭 This week we're spotlighting — opening the doors of London's West End to children and young people who would otherwis...
19/08/2026

🎭 This week we're spotlighting — opening the doors of London's West End to children and young people who would otherwise never walk through them.

In 2025, Go Live Theatre increased the number of young people they worked with by 80% — from just over 7,000 to just under 13,000 — expanding beyond London into the Home Counties for the first time, reaching schools in Arts Council Priority Places where cultural engagement is lowest. This spring, their Family First Nights programme brought 427 families and 1,027 young people to 11 top West End shows for £10 a ticket. Over half had never been to the theatre together before.

"My daughters loved it. They want to go again and my daughter asked how she can be in musicals like the kids in Matilda. I think she was inspired!"
— Family First Nights participant, 2026

Small charity. Enormous impact. 🙌

❤️ This week we're spotlighting — supporting the health and wellbeing of children, young people and families living wit...
28/07/2026

❤️ This week we're spotlighting — supporting the health and wellbeing of children, young people and families living with HIV across the UK, through everything from clinical guidance and peer support to camps, arts programmes and national policy.

In 2025, Chiva successfully lobbied the government to include funded formula milk for babies born to mothers living with HIV in the new HIV Action Plan — a campaign they had championed for years, and one that will protect infants while relieving financial pressure on families already stretched thin. Their film about the Chiva summer camp, Safe With Me, won Silver at the Charity Film Awards.

One of the ways they bring families together is through their residential Families' Weekends — completely free, all travel covered — where families living with HIV can find each other, breathe, and stop carrying it alone.

"Until I came to the camp I felt like I was living with part of my life behind a mask. I was able to remove my mask at camp."
— Parent/carer at Chiva Families' Weekend

Small charity. Enormous impact. 🙌

🧠 This week we're spotlighting — the only UK charity dedicated to supporting children living with parental mental illne...
22/07/2026

🧠 This week we're spotlighting — the only UK charity dedicated to supporting children living with parental mental illness. One in three children will experience it. Most face it without any support at all.

In 2025, Our Time influenced the Mental Health Bill to strengthen recognition and protection for children affected by parental mental illness. They won the BBC Radio 4 All in the Mind Award. And their theatre programme reached 344 children and adults across Yorkshire — with 91% of pupils feeling confident to talk about their feelings afterwards, and 94% able to name a trusted adult they could turn to.

Children's voices are still being overlooked in mental health discourse. Our Time is changing that — one family at a time.

"KidsTime has given us a language and a space to talk. My children know now that it's okay to ask, okay to feel, and okay to not have all the answers."

— R, KidsTime participant

Small charity. Enormous impact. 🙌

🌟 This week we're spotlighting — standing shoulder to shoulder with children in care and young care leavers, helping th...
14/07/2026

🌟 This week we're spotlighting — standing shoulder to shoulder with children in care and young care leavers, helping them navigate education and work on their own terms.

In 2025, they supported 743 young people through their Propel programmes. 97% said they felt more ready for university or employment. 98% developed a better understanding of where to go for support. And after a successful pilot, their first full year of Propel into Work delivered for 390 young people moving towards employment.

Here's what that looks like in practice:

"Rebecca was incredibly helpful and stayed with me throughout the journey, always offering guidance, motivation, and reassurance when I felt overwhelmed or close to giving up. The support I received wasn't just practical but also emotional, and it made a huge difference in helping me stay focused and confident."

— Care-experienced young person

Small charity. Enormous impact. 🙌

🌿 This week we're spotlighting — inspiring young people from underrepresented backgrounds to become the next generation...
08/07/2026

🌿 This week we're spotlighting — inspiring young people from underrepresented backgrounds to become the next generation of conservationists, and trusting them to lead nature recovery from day one.

In 2025, they opened Camp Aelwyd, a new immersive woodland education space in Wales built to last decades. They helped young people plant orchards and microforests across London as part of the Mayor's Trees for London initiative. And a record number of former participants stepped into leadership roles — like Katie, 23, now working as an ecologist designing a citizen science river monitoring programme at the same site where her AFC journey began.

This is what it looks like when you don't just inspire young people to care about nature — you hand them the tools to restore it.

Small charity. Enormous impact. 🙌

This week we're spotlighting — training young people in life-saving first aid and empowering them to be a force for goo...
06/05/2026

This week we're spotlighting — training young people in life-saving first aid and empowering them to be a force for good in their communities.

It took ten years to train the first 25,000. In the last three years, they've already trained 45,000 — including a record 20,364 in 2025 alone.

And when they're not training young people, they're changing minds. This year, in partnership with Saatchi & Saatchi, they launched 'The Fatal Question' — a national campaign confronting the myth that there is a safe place to stab someone. 20M impressions across cinemas, public screens and television.

It's one of the most powerful campaigns we've seen. Go and find it. Watch it. Share it.

Small charity. Enormous impact. 🙌

This week we're spotlighting — giving young carers across the UK the opportunities, friendship and support every child ...
29/04/2026

This week we're spotlighting — giving young carers across the UK the opportunities, friendship and support every child deserves.

There are an estimated 1 million young carers in the UK. Most are unregistered, unknown to their communities, and carrying their responsibilities entirely alone. 58% say caring has significantly impacted their mental health. 48% say it has affected their career prospects.

MYTIME works in schools, communities and at national policy level to change that — and it shows. 88% of participants report ongoing positive impacts for their futures. 84% feel less stressed. 90% report a sense of belonging.

Winner: UK Charity Awards — Children and Youth Category 2025. 🏆

Small charity. Enormous impact. 🙌

This week we're spotlighting — helping children maintain a bond with a parent in prison through recorded stories, messa...
22/04/2026

This week we're spotlighting — helping children maintain a bond with a parent in prison through recorded stories, messages and personalised gifts sent home.

"Just seeing the look on the faces of the children as they watch and listen to their daddy was such an emotional experience. Never underestimate the amazing impact you have on families like ours every day."

In 2025, they produced 3,768 story discs and over 2,000 other resources — reaching 16,395 beneficiaries in total. They worked with 108 prisons across the UK, their highest number ever. And after a lengthy Ministry of Justice assurance process, their new App launched, meaning families can now stream stories directly to their phones. 📱

Small charity. Enormous impact. 🙌

This week we're spotlighting — providing a safe, empowering space for women who have fled violence, trafficking or pers...
15/04/2026

This week we're spotlighting — providing a safe, empowering space for women who have fled violence, trafficking or persecution, and are pregnant or caring for a baby or toddler.

"My name is Emma. I started coming to Happy Baby when I was a baby. Now I am six. It looked always like a party. It reminds you of a big family." ❤️

In 2025, HBC supported nearly 3,000 mothers and over 3,400 children under four — welcoming over 600 new babies. 85% of their staff team have lived experience of the journeys their mums are on. And in a landmark moment, they convened the first UK summit on perinatal care for asylum-seeking women, directly leading to the establishment of the National Perinatal Network.

Small charity. Enormous impact. 🙌

Behind the surfboards and sunshine is something much more urgent. This week's spotlight charity works with children and...
08/04/2026

Behind the surfboards and sunshine is something much more urgent. This week's spotlight charity works with children and young people in crisis — those for whom accessing mental health support feels impossible, and where trauma, anxiety and social isolation have become the norm.

Surf Therapy offers them a safe, welcoming space to feel free, connected and valued. In 2025, 2,674 young people completed their programme across 17 locations from Cornwall to Scotland. Since partnering with Raise Your Hands in 2016, they've supported over 18,500 children. 🏄

Small charity. Enormous impact. 🙌

Address

Raise Your Hands, C/o Bowmer & Kirkland, 3rd Floor, 21 Conduit Street
London
E1S2XP

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 9am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 9am - 5:30pm
Thursday 9am - 5:30pm
Friday 9am - 5:30pm

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