# Sage Foundation Grow launches in UK with North East charities

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2026/09/16/sage-foundation-grow-launches-in-uk-with-north-east-charities/
- Published: 2026-09-16T16:58:52+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Sage has brought its global Sage Foundation Grow mentoring programme to the UK
for the first time, pairing its own senior staff with four charities in the North
East of England.**

The five-month programme has provided free support on governance, recruitment, marketing
and artificial intelligence to 4Louis, FareShare North East, The Meadows and Cramlington
Voluntary Youth Project (CVYP). Sage chose Newcastle, where the company was founded
and where its global headquarters remain, for the first UK delivery.

## Skills rather than cash

Grow is a skills-based mentoring programme rather than a grant scheme. Charity leaders
work alongside Sage colleagues over a series of sessions, tackling business planning,
governance, communications and the practical use of AI. Sage says the programme 
has supported 25 nonprofits in Spain, the United States, Canada and Australia since
it began.

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Corporate skills-sharing is not new, of course. Sage Foundation itself has been 
offering entrepreneurial support and grants to UK charities since at least 2017.
At five months of structured mentoring, however, this is a deeper level of corporate
partnership than many of those on offer elsewhere.

## What the charities say they have gained

**Bob McGurrell**, Chief Executive of 4Louis, the Sunderland charity supporting 
families affected by miscarriage, stillbirth and child loss, said:

> “We’re using what we’ve learned about governance and strategy to make important
> changes within the charity and put clearer plans in place for the future.”

**Faye Willis**, SEND Coordinator at CVYP, said the programme had prompted the charity
to update its business plan and mission statement, expand its social media activity,
and gain “the confidence to explore how AI could help streamline day-to-day tasks”.

**Helen Devanny**, VP of Sage Foundation, said:

> “Charities face many of the same challenges as any growing organisation. What 
> they don’t always have is the time, money or support to step back and work through
> those challenges and that’s where Sage Foundation Grow helps.”

Further details are available on the [Sage Foundation website](https://www.sage.com/en-gb/company/sage-foundation/).

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