Two ways to make an impact
Whether you want to join our programme or fund change in your own community — there's a place for you here. The work starts now.
The main programme
108 students. 36 researchers. Five impact categories.
Seven months to change the world
From application to global deployment, the journey is clear and demanding. Each stage builds on the last.
Five sectors where impact happens
Each category demands different skills and different thinking. Choose where your expertise matters most.
Food water and waste
Biology, chemistry, geography, environmental science, economics. Build composting systems, rainwater harvesting, food growing, waste-to-energy.
Renewable energy
Physics, engineering, mathematics, computer science. Design solar installations, micro wind systems, biogas digesters.
Social and economic
Economics, sociology, politics, psychology, business. Create community cooperatives, employment programmes, financial literacy initiatives.
Sustainable building
Physics, geography, art and design, engineering. Construct low-cost housing from local materials, retrofit public spaces.
Community well-being
Sociology, Psycology, Biology, Medicine. Construct low-cost medical equipment/ sollutions, for social well-being improvment.
The best prototypes travel
One hundred fifty deployment spots across six continents. Your work reaches 25 countries, paired with safeguarding nonprofits, rotating implementation.
What we need from mentors
One full day each month. Weekly oversight of your students from 1-3 hours. That's the commitment. In return, you get global impact, research opportunities, an international network, and potential roles at our Colombia site starting at £60,000 per year.
Global impact and research
International network of peers
Colombia site opportunities available
Community impact grants
No interviews. No weekly sessions. Just proof you can make it happen.
We fund individuals outside the main programme
You demonstrate real local impact across one of our five categories. You show us a clear proposal and proof you can deliver. That's enough. We move fast and we trust you.
Executive Directors
Any individual.You must demonstrate genuine community need in one of our five categories and show clear, measurable outcomes. Apply for second stage interviews for an opportunity to work at the head of the foundation. Frequent office visits, managing processes etc.
Who can apply for community grants
Any individual. 16 +. Anywhere in the UK. You must demonstrate genuine community need in one of our five categories and show clear, measurable outcomes.
Demonstrate real community need
Show measurable outcomes and impact targets for your project.
Commit to reporting back
Monthly check-ins and a final impact report keep us honest and accountable.
Work across our five categories
Food, water, waste, energy, social impact, building, or community wellbeing.
No experience required
Just passion and a clear plan to make change happen in your community.
Five ways to create change
Each category demands different thinking and different skills. Pick the one where your work matters most.
Food water and waste
Composting systems, rainwater harvesting, food growing, waste-to-energy solutions.
Renewable energy
Solar installations, micro wind systems, biogas digesters, and clean power.
Social and economic
Community cooperatives, employment programmes, financial literacy, economic opportunity.
What happens after you apply
From review to deployment, the timeline is clear. We move fast. You stay informed every step.
Understanding our five impact categories
Each category connects real skills to real problems. Here's what gets built and funded under each one.
Food water and waste systems
Biology, chemistry, geography, environmental science, economics combine to create composting systems, rainwater harvesting networks, food growing operations, and waste-to-energy installations.
Renewable energy infrastructure
Physics, engineering, mathematics, computer science build solar installations, micro wind systems, biogas digesters, and distributed clean power networks.
Sustainable building and retrofitting
Physics, geography, art and design, engineering construct low-cost housing from local materials and retrofit public spaces for energy efficiency and community use.
Exceptional sixth formers meet doctorate researchers
We bring together 108 exceptional sixth form students with 36 doctorate researchers from Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, UCL and LSE. Together you design and build sustainable technology prototypes that address real problems across five impact categories. This is not theoretical. This is building solutions that matter.
Can You Work and Volunteer While in Sixth Form?
Can You Work and Volunteer While in Sixth Form? Yes - if the programme is built around your real life. Our Global Impact Programme asks for one to three hours per week during term time. You work alongside a doctorate mentor, contribute to a real prototype, and deploy it internationally in July. Your grades come first. We built the programme that way deliberately. Sixth formers who work part-time, study hard, and still make a global impact are exactly who we are looking for.
How Many Hours Per Week Should a Sixth Former Volunteer?
The honest answer is one to three. Enough to build something real. Not so much that your A-levels suffer. Every group in our Global Impact Programme commits to that window - weekly mentor sessions, prototype development, and a shared platform where eighteen groups build in parallel. By July, you are in Colombia deploying what you built. By September, the best six groups have reached all six continents. That is what one to three hours a week looks like when it is structured correctly.
Where Can 17-Year-Olds Find Volunteering Opportunities That Actually Matter?
Most volunteering for 17-year-olds asks you to show up, observe, and leave. Ours asks you to build. Year 13 students join one of eighteen groups, each paired with a doctorate researcher from a Russell Group university, working across food and water systems, renewable energy, sustainable building, community wellbeing, and social and economic development. You do not shadow anyone. You lead your prototype from concept to international deployment. Applications open June 13th.
Recent Graduate? Here Is Where to Find Volunteering That Builds Your Career.
Graduate volunteering tends to fall into two categories: vague and unpaid, or structured and transformative. We sit firmly in the second. Recent graduates join us as Community Impact Grant recipients or as junior contributors to our Global Impact Programme - getting field experience across eighteen countries, building international networks, and contributing to a long-term infrastructure project in Colombia. If you finished university and want to do something that matters before your first permanent role, this is where to start.
Will Volunteering Actually Help You Get a Job After University?
Only if it is specific, sustained, and produces something real. Listing six weeks of volunteering on a CV impresses no one. Listing a year-long global impact programme where you prototyped a water purification system, led a six-person interdisciplinary team, and deployed your solution in Colombia - that opens doors. Our alumni leave with a certificate of completion, field data from up to eighteen countries, and a personal statement or CV entry that is genuinely difficult to ignore. We do not promise employment. We build the experience that makes it inevitable.
What Should You Ask Before Committing to a Volunteer Programme?
Three questions cut through everything. First: does my work actually get used, or does it sit in a folder? At Fostering Integrity Foundation, every prototype that passes review is deployed internationally. Second: who is supporting me? Every group works directly with a doctorate-level mentor for the full academic year. Third: what do I walk away with? A certificate, international deployment experience, field data, and - for the top six groups - deployment across all six continents. Ask those three questions of every programme you consider. Then apply to the one that answers them.
Youth-Led and Recruiting Now: Real Leadership From Day One.
Fostering Integrity Foundation is recruiting sixth formers, doctorate researchers, and community changemakers right now. Applications close August 13th 2026. This is not a youth advisory board where you observe adults making decisions. You own your prototype, lead your team, and present your work at a mid-year review in London. The top groups travel internationally. The strongest community projects scale globally. We are youth-led because we believe the people closest to the future should be building it. If that is you, apply now.
Your Investment Builds Infrastructure, Not Dependency.
We are not a charity asking for recurring donations to keep the lights on. Fostering Integrity Foundation is a self-sustaining social enterprise - our web design agency funds operations, so every pound you invest goes directly to deployment. Your funding reaches 144 spots across 13 countries, finances prototype development for 108 students, and builds toward a 25-hectare circular community in Colombia housing 1,800 children. In the future we hope to target £30 million in blended finance through green bonds, technical grants, and concessional loans via CAF and IDB. Gift Aid eligible. Audited accounts available on request. Institutional and development partners: contact us directly.
Time to act now
Applications open June 2026. Close August 13th 2026. Don't wait.