About Our Foundation

The Lorna Young Foundation (LYF) is a UK registered charity that works towards the eradication of poverty. We do this by focussing on  ETHICAL TRADING.

Overseas, the LYF helps smallholder farmer groups and co-operatives  to gain better access to information and expertise and to improve their livelihoods; supporting them to add value to what they grow and to lift themselves out of poverty. See Our Programmes page to find out more about our  projects – and in particular about LYF Farmers’ Voice Radio.

In the UK, we support marginalised groups – helping them to learn ETHICAL trading skills and to create fair trade social enterprises. This leads to work and training opportunities and the creation of community-owned ethical trading social enterprises that move value along the supply chain. We also encourage them to connect these ‘consumer’ communities with the producers themselves; so that a better understanding of each community is achieved.

We are all about self-determination for communities – both in developing countries and in the UK – offering the knowledge and capacity they need in order to take more control of their livelihoods.

We’re Listening.

We are passionate about ensuring that our development work respects and reflects the cultural sensitivities of the communities in which they are set.

So, whether based in rural farming areas in the developing world or in deprived urban areas in the UK, our programmes are designed around the needs and aspirations of local people; on what THEY tell us that THEY need.

The LYF was set up in 2003 in memory of the late Lorna Young, a pioneer of fair trade in the UK, see Our Mission, Values and Lorna. The LYF shares Lorna’s belief that farmers in developing countries can lift themselves out of poverty – they just need help to gain better commercial knowledge and access to markets.

We are an unusual charity. Our Board and Executive, our partners and our supporters comprise some of the most respected and visionary individuals and organisations within the ethical trading sector, see Our Board and Team.