What we do
We invest in charitable organisations combining the benefits of engaging with nature, creativity or physical activity with guided relational support from trusted adults to improve the mental health of young people.
Our time, money and experience support our partners' impact, sustainability and scaling strategies so they can in turn support more young people.
Our portfolio approach creates powerful synergies. We tap into our partners' shared knowledge and create opportunities for collaboration.
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What we look for
We take a focused, portfolio approach.
We identify interventions which are clearly defined, evidence-based and replicable.
We work with charities that:
- align with our vision
- are run by high quality, visionary management teams
- deliver evidence-based interventions rooted in nature, creativity or physical activity
- have scalable or replicable models
- can evidence their impact
- have diversified funding streams and a track record of financial competence
- have annual income between £200k and £3m
- see value in collaborating with other charities in our portfolio
It genuinely feels like being part of a supportive family with Chimo funded organisations working collaboratively and generously sharing knowledge and expertise rather than being competitive with one another
Strength and Learning Through Horses
The main thing is Chimo challenges us: questions our strategy, our objectives, our evaluation, and wants to dig deep into the impact.
The Running Charity
Grant terms
The Chimo team actively seeks out charities to apply for funding and does not accept unsolicited applications.
Trustees only accept applications from UK registered charities or other non-profit organisations (eg Community Interest Companies - CICs).
Grants are only made after a period of rigorous due diligence.
We don’t fund conventional talking therapy nor pure youth work nor do we want to spread ourselves too thinly. As such we work with a focused portfolio of charities.
We want our partners to plan with confidence. Our grants are normally unrestricted and for a minimum of 3 years.
Initial awards are normally limited to 10% of annual income.
After an initial grant, organisations may be selected for roll-over funding or, in a few cases, transformational funding to enable an organisation to scale.
All grants are subject to ongoing monitoring and review.
Trustees reserve the right to make exceptions to these general terms.
I appreciate how Chimo invests in understanding our work and values. This helps build a genuine partnership, rather than a transactional funder-grantee relationship.
Growing Resilience in Teenagers (GRIT)