Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), launched the Fair by Design Fund on 9 November 2017 aiming to eliminate the poverty premium within 10 years.  Backed by JRF, Big Society Capital, and Nominet Trust, the management of the Fair by Design Change Programme will be taken on by Barrow Cadbury Trust from December 2017.

Fourteen million people live in poverty in the UK – more than one in five of the population.  These people have to pay more for essential goods and services such as energy, loans, insurance, etc. This ‘poverty premium’ means that people on low incomes pay more for equivalent goods and services than those with higher incomes.

This bold ambition to eliminate the poverty premium within 10 years has two strands – the Venture Fund and Change Programme – which tackle the issue from different perspectives and which we hope will together achieve the mission.  The Venture Fund will invest directly in start-ups tackling the poverty premium, while the Change Programme – starting in April 2018 – will encourage the eradication of the premium by working with corporate providers, policy makers, regulators and in public debate.

A Director to manage the Fair by Design Fund will be recruited in the New Year.  More details of the Fair by Design Fund’s programme will be available in 2018.