Our stories

On one of the first warm weekends in June, sixteen On Purpose associates arrived at — excited but perfectly clueless about what was to come next. Not that knowing in advance would have done any justice whatsoever to the experience we shared...

Dot Dot Dot’s Property Guardianship encourages people to act with positive impact.I was first introduced to Property Guardianship a few years ago by a friend. As an actor trying to make it in London, he was looking for accommodation that matched...

How big of a problem are mental health issues?The figures will perhaps surprise those who haven’t heard them before: approximately 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year; in England, 1 in 6 people report...

I’ve spent the last 6 months searching for a job that I really want to do. It’s an incredibly privileged position to be in but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. As another On Purpose cohort prepares to do the same, I thought I’d share some of my...

On Purpose Fellows , and are now Climate Reality Leaders, having attended a three-day training with Al Gore. They share their lessons for communicating climate change.For Alex, it was growing up with a mother who is an architect focused on...

Inspecting Ballot Bins , Hubbub’s voting ashtray, in the vaults of Somerset House The On Purpose Interview The harder I tried to focus on the digits in front of me, the more they lurched across the paper. I wrote down new numbers but they were...

We all want impact investing to go mainstream. After all, who would be against generating a positive financial return while also creating positive social and environmental change?The term “impact investing” was coined at the beginning of the 21st...

Last weekend I volunteered for , a global innovation foundation and an On Purpose placement host, at their flagship event, . The annual 2 day conference aims to bring future thinking to the public realm, inviting its 4000 guests to ‘occupy...

Rabia Abrar, who is part of our October 2017 cohort, writes on the surprising contribution to climate change of our diets, and how we can make a positive impact through the things we choose, and choose not, to eat.

In this post, Matt Cooper, an Associate from the October 2017 cohort, reflects on how his On Purpose experience has prompted him to increase his engagement in his local community.“How engaged am I as a citizen?”“What sort of social impact am I...

Jo Alexander, who is a Geologist and an April 2017 Fellow in London, writes about her transformation from a pessimist to an optimistic On Purpose Fellow.Geologists are very good at scaring people (including ourselves!). As a geologist, I have a...

Ariane Nikpur, who is part of the On Purpose core team, writes about Breadwinners, a small charity supporting refugees with work opportunities in the UK. Breadwinners has been shortlisted in the top five of People's Projects supported by Big...