What we do

We are very proud of being a charity, and of our 200 years of charitable heritage. But our approach to how we raise the money to deliver our services, and how we are organised internally, marks us apart from other charities. That’s why, since 2013, we’ve defined ourself as a social business.

Unlike traditional philanthropically-funded charities, the majority of our income comes from delivering specific services for others. Today, contracts fund our delivery and we use strategic grants and partnerships to fund our reform programmes. It’s a model that means our service users are protected and we can focus on our end game of reform.

Internally we’re agile, we have adaptability, an ability to work across sectors and a willingness to draw from what works in the public, private and voluntary sectors.

It’s explained best by our slogan: the heart of a charity, and the mindset of a business.

Catch22 is at the forefront of public service delivery. Our staff work in prisons, alternative provision schools, colleges, and in a range of community settings – improving the lives of thousands of people every year. This strong frontline delivery expertise not only changes lives, but gives us direct insight into how the system is working and what needs to change.

And yet the systems within which they’re working too often prevent impact being as great as it could be. Social care, employment, health and justice systems are often too far removed from the people they serve. They are overly bureaucratic and transactional, and can end up failing those who need them most.

Because of this, we invest in new ideas that will improve outcomes for our service users. We deliver reform through our existing services, in partnership with others and by building new organisations.

Reform underpins all of Catch22’s activity; we’re constantly looking for ways to improve how public services are delivered such as:

• building new governance structures to build the capacity of smaller organisations
• designing and delivering innovative services that produce better outcomes
• collaborating with commissioners and service users to design new ways of working
• providing a platform for smaller charities that share our social mission and vision for public service reform
• partnering in new ways with businesses to deliver social outcomes.

Ultimately, this activity allows us to build an evidence base we need to drive our end of game: government adoption of better public services.

Our values, chosen by staff from across the organisation, reflect the Catch22 approach to working and are embedded in all the work we do:

• We’re compassionate: we care about people – supporting them to move forward.
• We empower others: we give people the knowledge, skills and opportunities to thrive.
• We’re collaborative: we do things with people, not to them.
• We’re curious: we explore, innovate and challenge to improve what we do.