“I must have tried 15 or 16 times to get registered as a charitable incorporated organisation with the Charity Commission,” says Shofa Miah, founder of Ashok’s Vision International, which is a youth-led mental wellbeing charity based in Newham in London. “But our project kept on getting rejected. In the end, I had to pay someone to help me.” It’s a story that will resonate with any number of grassroots community groups that have attempted to get registered as a charity and secure project funding.

Shofa, who is also Westminster City Council’s youth lead, decided to set up Ashok’s Vision International in memory of her brother who experienced mental health issues and died in 2003 at the age of 29. “I wanted to take the key parts of Ashok’s personality and his essence to reflect his love of nature, play and spirituality to help others. Often our youth are highlighted in a negative light and sometimes the positive work they do gets overlooked. I wanted to change that through Ashok’s example.”