News

At Our Community Foundation (OCF.), we often talk about the importance of opportunity meeting aspiration. Recently, we had a powerful reminder of what that looks like in practice when we met  Tom Wagner, the co-founder & co-CEO Knighthead Capital Management and co-owner and Chair of Birmingham City Football Club. It was a conversation rooted in […]

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

The Youth Voice Census 2025, capturing the experiences of over 8,000 young people aged 11–30 across the UK, paints a revealing picture of what it means to grow up today. It’s a story of contrasts — where young people value their schools and communities, yet feel uncertain, fatigued, and “stuck in the middle.” Our Community

Inspiring the Next Generation: Sameena Ali Khan Visits Our Community Foundation   We were delighted to welcome Award-Winning TV broadcaster and author, Sameena Ali Khan, to the Naseby Youth Centre in Alum Rock, where she met with our team, youth leaders, and young people to explore the realities facing local communities today. Sameena, one of

Despite grey skies and unpredictable weather in August, more than 2,000 people turned out in force to celebrate youth voice, community spirit, and sporting excellence at our annual youth-led event, proudly supported by the National Lottery Fund and the Henry Smith Foundation. As ever, our annual youth-led event was entirely planned, developed, and hosted by

At Our Community Foundation (OCF), we are passionate about amplifying youth voice and ensuring young people are at the centre of transformational change. That’s why we were proud to host Joey Jones and his team at the Naseby Youth Centre last week, for a valuable session with some of the founding members of BCAN from

Behind every statistic is a real story – a young person’s life changed, a future transformed, and a new path created. That truth came alive at the recent Sport 4 Life UK Impact Evening, an event that powerfully showcased not just the numbers, but the people, journeys, and breakthroughs that lie behind them. It was

💬⚽ It’s Good to Talk. That message rang loud and clear as our young people and CEO, Basharat Dad, proudly joined the Kick Off the Conversation Football Tournament, backing the first-ever Birmingham Suicide Prevention Week. The day was about much more than football. It was about connection, courage, and breaking the silence around mental health—showing

Figures released by Mayor Richard Parker highlight the transformative impact of more than 400 community-led projects across the West Midlands, funded by £13 million from the Inclusive Communities Fund and the Community Environment Fund. These projects have engaged over 800,000 residents, boosted wellbeing, and improved prospects. However, while these numbers are powerful, the sustainability of

Our Founder & CEO Basharat Dad had the privilege of joining Sport Birmingham as they welcomed Catherine McKinnell MP, Minister for School Standards at the Department for Education, to a roundtable at their offices. This meeting brought together voices from across Birmingham’s grassroots youth and community sector — and for Our Community Foundation, it was