Owls
Owls was a small social enterprise with a big vision.
Founded and led by Dr Charlie Howard and Dr Nina Browne between 2016 and 2020, Owls worked across the UK to co-design ideas for global social impact. That learning journey laid the foundation for Practice to Policy, continuing to shape new ways of working with communities.
Owls’ vision was a world where anything is possible through collaboration — where communities are listened to, and looked to, for solutions. It partnered across health, criminal justice, housing, funding, and music sectors, and has many people to thank for the aliveness it brought to testing new ideas.
Through Owls, Nina learned that there is a wide gap between ideas and action. Many of the professionals she met felt safest inside systems and roles that made it hard to step beyond the therapy room — even when they longed to create change. Practice to Policy draws on so many insights from these years focussed on the ‘how’ of change, not just talking about it.
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Mental Health Incubator
The vision for the incubator was to embed mental well-being into organisations working with young people. We believe in an action research approach - getting alongside a team and co-producing together.
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The Movement
The vision for this movement was a world where, in 10 years time, there will be no strategy, policy or TV programme written about youth violence without young people being involved at the beginning, middle and end.
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Street to Scale
Street to Scale was a natural progression of the work Owls were up to. It had the vision to change the way funding happens. We have been testing the idea of youth led banks for the past year. It continued on in the world but is no longer tested with Owls.
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The Grant incubator
We developed a grant incubator for young people who are furthest away from mainstream grant making. We’re doing it partnership with grant makers who want to radically change the way we do funding.
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Problem Solving Booths
Problem Solving Booths were the idea of a young person that turns help-seeking on it’s head. We tested the concept with lots of partners in the UK and internationally. Find out more here
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Camerados: Social Movement
We partnered with Camerados who believe that the answer to our problems is each other. A camerado can be anyone. It’s about chatting to someone new or helping out a stranger (or better yet, asking them to help you) It’s sitting with your neighbour and having a cuppa. It’s asking that stranger at the bus-stop if they’ve got the time. Everyone has tough times and we think it’d be great if people just looked out for one another more.