I’m incredibly proud to share that Our Community Foundation (OCF.) has been named Outstanding Charity of the Year 2025 at the Asian Business Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) Awards.
To be shortlisted for this award was a huge honour. To win it is genuinely unbelievable.
We were nominated alongside some of the most respected, established and impactful charities in the UK, including Acorns Children’s Hospice, Crisis and FareShare West Midlands. These organisations have decades of experience and national reach, and to be recognised alongside them was humbling. To be chosen as the winner is something we never take lightly.
This award is not just about OCF.
It’s about Alum Rock. East Birmingham. And the young people who inspire everything we do.
A Testament to Place-Based Community Impact in East Birmingham
Our Community Foundation was created in Alum Rock, and our work remains deeply rooted in East Birmingham. This award recognises the power of a place-based approach – one that understands local need, builds trust, and delivers long-term change with communities rather than to them.
East Birmingham is full of talent, ambition and potential, but it also faces long-standing challenges linked to deprivation, inequality and opportunity. What this recognition highlights is that when investment is local, youth-led and community-driven, real and sustainable impact happens.
Putting Youth Voice at the Centre of Everything We Do
At the heart of Our Community Foundation is a simple belief:
young people must have a real voice in shaping their futures and their communities.
Across all our programmes – from youth-led social action and mentoring, to leadership development, sport, digital skills and employment pathways – we don’t just involve young people, we empower them.
We create spaces where young people are trusted to lead, challenge systems, and influence decisions that affect their lives. This award reinforces what we have always known: when young people are listened to and invested in, they thrive.
A Youth Anchor Organisation for Birmingham
Over the years, OCF has grown into a recognised youth anchor organisation across the city. We are proud to play this role for both the Birmingham Community Action Network (BCAN) and Sport Birmingham, ensuring that youth voice, inclusion and lived experience remain central to strategy and delivery.
Partnership working is core to who we are. We believe lasting change only happens when organisations collaborate with shared purpose.
An exciting example of this is our involvement in the new Sports Quarter development, a major opportunity for Alum Rock, East Birmingham. Developments of this scale must work for local people, and we are committed to ensuring young people are part of the conversation from day one.
Our 2025–2030 Strategic Framework: A Clear Vision for the Future
Winning this award comes at a defining moment for Our Community Foundation. We have recently launched our 2025–2030 Strategic Framework, shaped by young people, community voices and lived experience.
Our work over the next five years will focus on five key pillars:
Youth Futures
Creating pathways into education, employment, training and leadership
Living Well
Supporting physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing
Real Models
Providing mentors, role models and lived-experience leadership
Shield
Reducing harm, preventing exploitation and tackling antisocial behaviour
Our Place
Building pride, belonging and community-led change in East Birmingham
This framework is not just a plan – it is our commitment to the young people and communities we serve.
Recognition Matters – But the Work Continues
Awards like this are important. They shine a light on grassroots organisations, validate community-led approaches, and help open doors to new partnerships and opportunities.
But for us at OCF, recognition is not the destination – it’s fuel.
Looking ahead to 2026, we have some major projects in development that will see Our Community Foundation truly change the game in Alum Rock and East Birmingham. Projects that will unlock opportunity, strengthen communities and ensure that young people are not just beneficiaries of change, but leaders of it.
Thank You
This award belongs to our young people, our staff, our volunteers, our trustees, and our partners who believe in what we are building together.
Thank you to the Asian Business Chamber of Commerce for recognising our work and championing charities creating real impact at a local level.
Basharat Dad – Founder & CEO