FAITH IN FUTURES

 

Northern Monk started life in a cellar in Bradford with a £5,000 gift from a grandparent. Inspired by these origins and an ambition to give back wherever we can, we launched the For The North Foundation in September 2019. The For The North Foundation allowed us to support the people who share our values, and our passion for the North, via £5,000 grants offered to businesses, charities and projects that aimed to provide a genuine benefit to the communities they serve, or the wider environment.

These grants were not for personal gain, nor for the commercial gain of Northern Monk. This Foundation had been developed out of our passion and commitment to the North.

We are all incredibly proud of the causes that we’ve supported through the Foundation. However, there was one element of the Foundation that didn’t sit right with us. There is no border to our North. So, we wanted to take down the borders of our Foundation’s work.

March 2021 saw the ‘For The North Foundation’ evolve into ‘Faith in Futures’. Faith in Futures will see no geographical border applied to our giving, and we will donate the £5,000 grants to causes and organisations who are in need of funds at a particular time.

Funding for Faith in Futures will be raised via exclusive product launches that are Twists on Faith, through our online shop, via sales of glassware at our Refectory sites, and by standalone fundraising events.

In 2022, we are very proud to celebrate the milestone to have donated £50,000 to charities across the UK since the creation of the Foundation, and to have supported so many businesses, especially during the extremely tough period that was the pandemic.

Follow us on InstagramFacebook and Twitter to keep up to date with the latest Faith in Futures news and find out how you can donate.

Read more about the transition to Faith in Futures in this blog post.

CHARITY OR

COMMUNITY

PROJECT

INFO NOTES URL

AMOUNT

DONATED

DATE
Meanwood Valley Urban Farm A registered charity, established in 1980 to provide services to inner city communities. From the Farm's humble beginnings operating from two old caravans, it has grown into a 24 acre site. It's not only a working farm with a wide variety of animals but also a major centre for community and environmental work. Our founding grant. We selected Meanwood Urban Farm for the first in our Faith in Futures donations due to their impressive ongoing work in the area. Meanwood Urban Farm is a pillar of the local community and has plated a key role in its regeneration. Website Link £5,000.00 13/01/2020
John Muir Trust Scottish charity, established in 1983 to conserve wild land and wild places for the benefit of all. The Trust manage Ben Nevis. Our donation was made following the Ben Nevis fundraising expedition. Back in 2018, we embarked on our first fundraising mission. We took on the gruelling task of climbing Ben Nevis, to brew the UK's highest altitude beer ever on top of the mountain to raise money for the Foundation. The trip really brought to light the challenges the John Muir Trust face in protecting and preserving this national landmark. We wanted to make this contribution as way of thanks for the role Nevis played in challenging us to raise the money needed. Website Link £1,000.00 20/01/2020
St Luke's Cares St Luke's Cares is a small innovative charity committed to supporting communities across inner South Leeds. Our third grant went to St. Luke's Cares, a charity set up on our very own doorstep to support the community most local to our brewery. Holbeck, the home of our HQ, is one of the most economically challenged areas of the country and we wanted to give back to the park of the North we call home.  Website Link £5,000.00 30/01/2020
Rooted for Girls Rooted it aimed at teenage girls experiencing challenges around confidence, relationships and mental health. Teenage girls facing challenges can access the service to use the natural environment of the woodland setting in a therapeutic manner. Based in Bradford, Rooted for Girls works with young women from disadvantaged backgrounds to give them the tools and confidence they need to access the great outdoors and enjoy the natural environment. As a business that's so passionate about the great outdoors this felt like an incredibly natural fit. Website Link £5,000.00 09/06/2020
BMEHub Making the voices of minority communities be heard by decision makers in Leeds. A split grant with Racial Justice Network, we deployed to do what we could to play a productive role in the global discussion about racial injustices, particularly brought to light around this time. BME hub work within the local council to try and amplify and support the voices of minority communities so that they are heard by decision makers in the city. Website Link £2,500.00 08/06/2020
Racial Justice Network The Racial Justice Network brings together organisations and individuals from across West Yorkshire to proactively promote racial justice. They use Holistic, Societal, Environmental, Spiritual and Cultural Repairs to address legacies of colonialism and end racial injustice. The Racial Justice network are one of the most active organisations working within racial justice in the Yorkshire region, along with the grant they took over our social media for a day to highlight their work. Website Link £2,500.00 08/06/2020
Love Muscle Leeds Love Muscle is a real LGBTQ alternative for the more discerning night life enthusiast. Our donation to Love Muscle Leeds was part of a hanfdul of grants in the LGBTQ world. While the For the North Foundation was focused on quarterly campaigns, this grant was given to Love Muscle who were working on a virtual fundraiser. £2,300.00 01/12/2020
What Can We Do What Can We Do For Black and Brown Trans People works to uplift Black and Brown Trans and non-binary people, through financially supporting their healthcare, housing, and mental health needs. What Can We Do also fell under LGBTQ grants. We are pleased to have been given the opportunity to support their cause in some small way. £1,250.00 16/03/21
House of Flava House of Flava is a Leeds based PoC trans and gender non-confirming KiKi house. It provides vogue, wellbeing and skill-building workshops, events and occupy space for the Leeds based QTIPoC community. Also part of the LGBTQ grants, House of Flava caught our eye as another organisation which we felt should be supported in whatever way we could. Check our their Instagram page for more insight on their exciting and inclusive work. Website Link £1,250.00 08/04/21
Non Binary Leeds Non-Binary Leeds is a peer-led support and social group for non-binary people in Leeds and the surrounding areas. Part of the LGBTQ grants campaign. Non Binary Leeds do some incredible work with non-Binary people in the city we call home. Website Link £2,500.00 15/03/21
Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust Through our own work and by supporting others Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust cares for the people, landscape and wildlife of the Dales and helps everyone to appreciate and enjoy this special place. The first of our Faith in Futures grants, which also wrapped up the last of the quarterly campaign-style focus to our giving back. This donation was made to address the stark inequalities in green space in one of the North's most iconic national parks - The Yorkshire Dales. Website Link £5,000.00 26/04/21
Beyond Equalities Working with men and boys towards gender equality, inclusive communities, and healthier relationships. As the Euro 2020 Finals drew to a close, an incredible campaign from the English national team ended in disappointment at Wembley against Italy. A small minority tarnished the team's efforts and sense of national pride with incidents of racism and mindless acts of vandalism. We decided to donate £5,000 to Beyond Equalities who work to engage men and boys to rethink masculinities and play their part in creating change. Website Link £5,000.00 16/07/2021
ActionAid India - Covid-19 Relief ActionAid has been working with poor and marginalised women, girls and communities in India since 1972. The charity works in 24 states across the country.  Born of a longing to see the world during lockdown, our OFS Projects hit the road. As we set our rights on India, taking inspiration from a rich culinary scene we could not overlook the challenges the country faced at the hands of Covid-19. We decided we would donate the profits of the OFS India series to ActionAid. Website Link £1,250.00 06/10/21
Black Minds Matter U.K.  BMM's mission is to connect Black individuals and families with free mental health services - by professional Black therapists to support their mental health. To make this happen, we want to make mental health topics more relevant  As part of our new and ongoing relationship with the team at the Why Didn't You Tell Me? Podcast, we agreed to donate to a charity of their choice over Black History Month in October 2021. The donation is made up of proceeds from our Hometown Pride DDH IPA that was released that month, in collaboration with WDYTM. Website Link £5,000.00 18/10/21
Young Women's Trust Young Women's Trust is a feminist organisation working to achieve justice for young women. There are 1 million young women in England and Wales struggling to live on low or no pay. They want them to thrive and see a fairer working future. Young Women's Trust offers support to young women aged 18-30, who are living on low or no pay and want to build a better future. They campaign for young women's equality in the workplace and their research examines what young women's lives are really like. Young women are at the centre of the charity's work: leading, designing, and participating. In 2022, we have collaborated with Young Women's Trust for International Women's Day, by creating a bespoke beer, raising awareness of the issues young women are facing, volunteering in reviewing young women's CVs, and donating our next grant to the organisation. Website Link £5,000.00 31/05/22
ANDYSMANCLUB ANDYSMANCLUB started life in 2016 when nine men met in a small room in the Yorkshire town of Halifax with a simple aim of talking through their issues and helping each other deal with their mental health. This was the start of a movement that became ANDYSMANCLUB, which now has more than 100 member groups across England, Wales and Scotland. The donation will be used to ensure that our growth in new areas is able to continue, in addition to ensuring that our current cohort of groups are able to open every Monday night without fail. Whilst the majority of our venues are donated to us for free, we do pay to use a percentage of them, and donations like this safeguard our future usage of these places.

As ANDYSMANCLUB expands in terms of clubs and volunteers on the ground, expansions to our staff team are also needed, and this donation will help support the growth of our staff team.
Website Link £5,000 15/11/2022
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Yorkshire Wildlife Trust is the only charity entirely dedicated to conserving, protecting and restoring wildlife and wild places in Yorkshire. The Trust is one of the UK's 46 county-based Wildlife Trusts. Its focus is on nature conservation and it works to achieve a nature-rich Yorkshire with healthy and resilient ecosystems that support both Yorkshire's wildlife and its people. Our work reaches across Yorkshire as we care for wildlife and over 100 wild places across the region from puffins which arrive every spring at Flamborough to the stunning limestone grasslands of the Dales. Generosity and donations are vital for conservation and help us do more, which inspires more people to take action for nature too. This donation will help our teams conserve our wild places; looking after our conservation grazing herd to restoring flowering meadows, caring for and improving our wetland reserves for wildlife and visitors. It will help us create more space and improved habitat for wildlife and inspire others to work with us and help wildlife through our events and education. Website Link £5,000 15/12/2022