Fund · Elev-Eight Life CIC
Fund the system. Watch it walk on its own.
Built to stop needing you.
For grant funders and social investors. Community-led startups, set up together and then handed over. Your funding builds the system that makes it possible.
The talent is there. Access is what's missing.
That access is what the School of Elevation brings: technology, systems, training, mentoring and coaching, and a partner for the long haul.
Every startup begins with a community's own idea. We build it together, bring the customers, and hand it over. The community leads; Elev-Eight amplifies the work and builds the systems that help it grow.
Find.
Step 1Discover ↻Find.
Communities with their own idea and their own leaders. We don't parachute in.
Build.
Step 2Discover ↻Build.
Product, journey, shop and bookings, built together.
Amplify.
Step 3Discover ↻Amplify.
Customers, partners and markets. What works gets taken further.
Hand over.
Step 4Discover ↻Hand over.
The business is theirs. We step back.
Every community has a big vision.
Funamos is first. Each community sets its own goal, and we only publish a number once they've costed it with us.
Ovejas · ColombiaFunamos.
£40,000
Land · coaches · kitDiscover ↻Own the ground they play on.
Funamos built its pitch on a rubbish dump, but the land isn't theirs, and in Ovejas access to a pitch is never guaranteed. Land of their own means no one can take the game away.
Meet Funamos →
Amboseli · KenyaMaasai.
£5,500
Water firstDiscover ↻Water for the school.
First, repair the school borehole and water tower so they produce more. Then a bigger well.
Meet the community →
Ecuadorian AmazonAmarun
Pakcha.
Goal being costedDiscover ↻A second guest cabin.
Built and equipped by the community, so they can host more guests and earn more. Costing in progress with Kelmy.
Meet Amarun Pakcha →
Sierra Nevada · ColombiaAtánquez.
Goal being costedDiscover ↻Tools for the weavers and farmers.
Enosh and the community are pricing their own list. It goes here the day it's signed off.
Meet Atánquez →
San Basilio de PalenquePalenque.
Goal being costedDiscover ↻Their goal, in their words.
The Simarra family are setting their goal with Bill. It goes here the day they sign it off.
Meet Palenque →
GhanaAmaya
for Africa.
Goal being costedDiscover ↻Machines and markets.
Industrial and electric sewing machines, and the academy. Letitia is costing it now.
Meet Amaya →£85,000 over 12 months.
Fund the whole system, or back one community's dream.
The system that holds it together.
Every journey, product and gift runs on the same three things.
Tech.
£25,000The platform every community sells through.
- Booking, shop and gift-voucher system
- A web page and storefront for each community
- Digital kits: phones, laptops, data
- Payments that land with the community
Training.
£20,000The School of Elevation.
- Free, bilingual, built around a real product
- Photography, pricing, bookings, hosting
- One rep from each of our 8 communities
- Community trainers paid to teach
Team.
£40,000The people who hold it together.
- 3 part-time community coordinators
- Operations and partnerships lead
- Safeguarding lead and training
- Reporting to funders and communities
What changes in 12 months.
community-led journeys run in 2027
community businesses selling online
community members trained by the School
paid to communities from three journeys
You see every pound land.
Built to stop needing us.
Each community business has a named owner, its own income and its own customers. When it runs without our system, we step back and the funding moves to the next community.
Every quarter.
A short report: sales, bookings and income per community, with photos shared with consent.
Every journey.
What the group paid, what reached the community and what it bought.
Every year.
Independent review of the accounts and a public impact summary.
Always.
Safeguarding first. Incidents reported to funders within 48 hours.
Already moving.
people reached by early projects
gallons of water our filters can clean, Ghana
students with an IT hut in Kenya
children fed for six months, through Humanitas and Beatrice's school club in Kenya
Registered. Accountable. Asset-locked.
Community Interest Company, limited by guarantee. Assets locked for community benefit.
Registered in England and Wales.
Certificate of incorporation available on request.
20 years in international development.
A named lead and checks for everyone who travels.
Sales, bookings and income per community.
Trusted by
Fight Global PovertyFight Global PovertyRequest the funding pack.
The deck, budget, safeguarding policy and incorporation certificate. We'll reply within two working days.
Follow the thread
- Fund the system
- Bring your people
- Build it together