Steve Morgan receives honorary degree

Our Founder and Chairman, Steve Morgan CBE, has received an honorary degree from the University of Liverpool.

Steve accepted the conferment of the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) at a ceremony held on 18 July 2025 at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall during graduation week where 7,500 people graduated.

University of Liverpool Vice-Chancellor Professor Tim Jones said:

“I am delighted to celebrate and welcome our honorary graduates into the University of Liverpool community – individuals whose remarkable achievements and meaningful connections to the University serve as a source of inspiration for us all.

“As students and their families gather to honour years of hard work and commitment, our honorary graduates not only receive formal recognition for their contributions but also share their journeys, offering wisdom, encouragement, and invaluable insights. These stories help guide our graduands as they prepare to take their next steps, reminding them of the many paths to success and the impact they, too, can make in the world.”

Upon receiving the award, Steve Morgan said:

“I am delighted and truly humbled to receive an honorary Doctorate from the University of Liverpool and be recognised for the philanthropic work of the Foundation.

“Having grown up in Liverpool and witnessing the challenges the region has, and is facing, improving education outcomes for our young people has always been one of our aims. Being connected to the University in this way is a real privilege and I look forward to continuing our support in this area.”

SMF backs the expansion of Housing First to tackle homelessness

The Steve Morgan Foundation has partnered with the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) by providing £80,000 to support their policy work on Housing First to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping in England. Together we have launched a report which sets out a fully costed proposal to expand the Housing First approach nationally following proven results from the pilots.

Homelessness and rough sleeping are on the rise in England

In 2024, rough sleeping was up 20 per cent on the previous year, and 91 per cent since the COVID-19 pandemic. The years following the success of ‘Everyone In’ have been marked by rising homelessness, increasingly visible on the streets of England’s cities and towns. Rough sleeping is just the tip of the iceberg. Last year, English councils spent £2.3 billion on temporary accommodation, a crisis that is pushing local authorities to the point of bankruptcy.

Over the last seven years, Housing First has been shown to be the most effective and well-evidenced intervention to end homelessness for Britain’s most disadvantaged and entrenched rough sleepers. Without a commitment to rolling it out further, the government will struggle to meet its manifesto commitment by the end of the Parliament.

No Place Like Home

In this report, made possible by the Foundation, we make the case for a targeted expansion of Housing First in England, to deliver 5,571 places by 2029/30. This would scale-out the success of the three national pilots in Liverpool City Region, Greater Manchester and West Midlands, ensuring that every English region has access to an equivalent Housing First intervention.

Alongside a cross-government strategy that is focused on prevention, a national Housing First programme will respond to the most severe consequences of homelessness, by targeting the most vulnerable and disadvantaged cohort.

Read the No Place Like Home report here

Steve Morgan CBE said:

“Housing First begins with a simple but powerful principle: a permanent home. From that solid foundation, people can access the tailored, wraparound support they need to address deep-rooted challenges. It’s an approach rooted in common sense, recognising that no one can rebuild their life whilst trapped in an endless cycle of homelessness, emergency accommodation, and crisis services.

“And it works. In my home city of Liverpool, Housing First has been incubated and refined through one of three national pilots.”

The Steve Morgan Foundation wins at the Charity Awards 2025

We are delighted to announce that the Steve Morgan Foundation has taken the top prize in the Grantmaking & Funding category at this year’s Charity Awards, the longest-running and most prestigious awards scheme in the charity sector.

The Foundation was recognised for our pioneering Cradle to Career programme in North Birkenhead, which delivers systematic and long-term change to improve outcomes for children and young people. The Foundation has so far committed £6.7 million of funding to implement a place-based change approach, where we brought together key organisations and people within the community to form a cross-sector partnership to provide practical and life-changing support.

Working alongside our partners Right to Succeed, SHINE, UBS Optimus Foundation and Wirral Council, Cradle to Career has significantly improved literacy standards among children; given families better access to support; and created new opportunities for young people.

You can read more about the impact Cradle to Career has had here.

Following its impact in North Birkenhead, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has now invested £5.25m to extend the programme into five more of the region’s most deprived areas. The Steve Morgan Foundation remains a primary catalyst, investor and champion.

Charity Awards judge André Clarke, director of charity development at Lloyds Bank Foundation, described the programme as a “spot-on example of taking a multidisciplinary and multisectoral approach to investment in an area”. He noted that since the programme began, the district had changed from being the highest-need community in the Wirral since records began, to the fourth-highest, and had also gone from being the worst to the best-performing community in terms of take-up of early-years support.

The Steve Morgan Foundation was presented with the trophy alongside representatives from Right to Succeed and UBS at a black-tie ceremony at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on 3 July, hosted by BBC News presenter Asad Ahmad.

Members of the Steve Morgan Foundation with two partners on stage with an award

Steve Morgan Foundation trophy from the Charity Awards 2025

Our CEO, Liam Eaglestone, commented:

“We are absolutely thrilled to receive this award in recognition of our funding of the impactful Cradle to Career programme. As a Foundation we are huge advocates of place-based change and this initiative is a clear demonstration of the positive results this approach can bring.

“Collaborative working is something we are passionate about – by working together we can effect lasting change within our communities and turn the table on social disadvantage. We are very much looking forward to supporting a wider rollout of the Cradle to Career programme.”

The Charity Awards shortlist is chosen by an independent panel of expert judges, themselves all eminent figures in the charity sector. The judges score each entry against six Hallmarks of Excellence before coming together for two days of challenge and discussion to select the winners.

Matt Nolan, chief executive of Civil Society Media which organises the Charity Awards, said:

“For quarter of a century, the Charity Awards has been highlighting and celebrating the vital work of UK charities, large and small, across the country. In 2025, the sector is facing almost unprecedented external challenges, yet the resilience, ambition and innovation in these applications continues to impress and inspire us.

“Huge congratulations to the Steve Morgan Foundation; its collaborative approach has had genuine impact for the people of Birkenhead, and they should be very proud to have won.”

Watch the Cradle to Career video