Youmanity

Since 2010, the organisation has held an annual photography competition, focused on cultural diversity, with a £1,000 prize.[7] Each competition has a theme. In 2012, for example, the theme was "Migration, Stories of a Journey".[4] In 2019 the theme was "Friend-Ship";[8] Debdatta Chakraborty was the winner for his shot of the Sheroes Hangout café in India.[9][10] In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the theme was "Friend-Ship During Challenging Times".[6] The winner was ‘A kiss from across the miles’ by Nicola Parker, a mobile screenshot taken during lockdown portraying an 80-year-old grandmother blowing a kiss from a nursing home.[11][12]

In 2019, Youmanity led a two-year student-centred learning project to support vulnerable children at risk of abandoning education. The 2SMILE project was funded by the European Commission's Erasmus Programme.[13]

In October 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic and ahead of World Mental Health Day,[14] it devised a 'mindfulness' campaign[15] featuring the world's first 'chill-out' train carriages, plus 'meditation corners' in stations, to reduce commuter anxiety.[16][17][18] Project collaborators included wellbeing movement Thrive LDN and the Braincharge meditation app, with users able to listen to rustling trees and birdsong, plus soothing music, while waiting for trains.[19] As well as gaining attention in London media, the initiative was reported in US publication The New Yorker.[1]