Project

Hackney Connect Celebration

Client

Services

Operations Management | Community Coordination | Advocacy | Crisis Leadership

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The Challenges

Making sure funding became more than just a cheque

Hackney Connect was built around a powerful idea: young local entrepreneurs already understood the problems in their communities. What they needed was funding, guidance, confidence, and the right people around them. The challenge was holding all of that together — award winners, UBS mentors, UnLtd stakeholders, progress tracking, support needs, reporting, and a celebration event that had to honour the weight of what the cohort had built.

our approach

Hold the programme together so the founders could move forward

We came in to manage the moving parts that turn a good programme into a working one. Award winners needed support that matched their stage. UBS mentors needed to be briefed, matched, and kept engaged. Partners needed updates, structure, and clarity. And the cohort needed a close that felt worthy of the work they had done. So we managed the programme from the inside — tracking progress, coordinating support, keeping stakeholders aligned, and shaping the celebration event around the people it was built to serve.

the result

175 people into employment and 2,000+ lives reached across Hackney

Hackney Connect proved what happens when local founders are backed properly. The programme helped 175 people into employment, reached more than 2,000 people across Hackney, and strengthened the business planning skills of entrepreneurs who accessed mentoring and pro bono support. Its success went beyond the original programme too - helping lead to East End Connect, an expanded partnership supporting 42 new social ventures over three years.