Blog: Unfold’s leadership transition sparks reflection
Last month, Catherine Mahoney, CEO of Unfold and leader one of our longstanding grantee organisations, announced her departure. The news prompted a moment of reflection on our funding relationships, how they evolve over time, and how a place-based approach shapes how we work alongside local organisations.
SGSG is unusual in the funding landscape: a small, place-based funder with a thematic focus on the education of children and young people and a catchment area covering half a London borough – around 150,000 residents. Our model prioritises flexibility, trust and long-term support. This includes three-year grants and unrestricted funding (wherever possible).
Over the last 16 years, we have awarded Unfold (formerly Westminster Befriend a Family) 12 grants totalling £211,047. These have supported their family befriending service and mentoring work with young people. In earlier years, this included eight one-off project grants and three multi-year Community Investment Grants. In addition, they received two special one-off grants:
- A capacity building grant in 2015 that enabled them to undertake a strategic review of their services.
- A Covid crisis grant in 2020 to improve their website and strengthen their digital platform for service users and volunteers.
Between these two grants, the organisation faced serious challenges. By 2018, turnover had fallen to £100,000 – down from £300,000 in 2014 – representing a decline of more than 60% in just four years. For three years, they continued operating with only two staff members. In 2019, a candid conversation with the outgoing CEO revealed internal difficulties, though he managed to keep their main projects running. Catherine took over leadership in April 2019, stepping in during a difficult time. Early on, she submitted a monitoring form showing low engagement by young people. We could have withdrawn our multi-year funding. Instead, after meeting with Catherine and hearing her vision for the organisation, we chose to continue the grant and give her time and space to rebuild.
Her leadership proved transformative. Following a major rebrand, Unfold has increased its turnover to nearly £500,000 and grown its staff team to ten. The organisation has expanded its services into neighbouring Kensington & Chelsea and is embedding innovative models of participatory governance. We are proud to fund them through this journey.
Hazel says:
“Our aim has always been to provide funding and support that strengthen organisations so they can better serve their communities. Sometimes this means walking alongside them ‘for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health’. Perhaps not a marriage, but we do see our Community Investment Grants as a kind of civil partnership – rooted in trust, a long-term horizon, investment in organisational resilience, and recognition of their vital role in the local civil society eco-system.”