1st Formations launches charity partnership with The Childhood Trust
1st Formations has launched a partnership with The Childhood Trust, London’s child poverty charity, with a £25,000 donation. Together, we will work to improve the lives of children growing up in poverty across the capital.
Based in Covent Garden, 1st Formations has helped form over one million companies since 2014 – making it one of the UK’s largest company formation agents. It’s been a certified B Corp since 2025, the first company formation agent in the UK to achieve.
That commitment to purpose-driven business starts close to home. 1st Formations already gives over 3,000 sq. ft of its London headquarters, rent-free, to seven charities. The partnership with The Childhood Trust builds on that work in the city the business calls home.
The partnership was inspired by The Childhood Trust’s research report, ‘Housed but not homed’. The report shows how furniture poverty and poor housing conditions affect London’s children, and why a safe, furnished home matters so much to a child’s development.
The donation will support The Childhood Trust’s direct programme delivery as well as its grant-making and capacity building programme for a network of frontline charities that improve the health and wellbeing, confidence and overall life chances of children growing up in poverty in the capital.
The 1st Formations team will give their time, too. Employees will use their paid volunteering hours on The Childhood Trust’s Transforming Spaces programme, which supports children and families experiencing poverty. The team has already completed its first project, creating a new bedroom for a two-year-old girl. They aim to give more than 120 hours in 2027 and raise additional funds through personal challenges and charity runs.
Graeme Donnelly, Founder & CEO of 1st Formations, said:
“Too many children in London are growing up without the security and space to develop. The Childhood Trust’s work changes that, and we’re backing it with our time as well as our funding. London is our home. Doing good business means doing good here, too.
We’re proud to be working alongside the Trust. Our team are already using their volunteering days to get involved, so they can see the difference first-hand and make a direct impact on families living in poverty across the city.”
Josephine McCartney, Chief Executive of The Childhood Trust, said:
“This is a partnership forged on shared values and mission to make a positive, lasting change in our London community – the best place a partnership can begin.
“1st Formations’ commitment comes at a time when child poverty is rising across the capital, with more children facing the daily reality of food insecurity, cold and unsuitable homes, and limited opportunities for the future. Their generous donation to mark the launch of our partnership will help us reach thousands more children growing up in poverty, helping to create safer, healthier and more hopeful childhoods for children facing circumstances no child should have to endure.”