The Freedom and Justice PartnershipInterim Impact Report 2026
Registered charity in England & Wales, no. 1214382
From the artisanal cobalt mines of Kolwezi to the classroom, the House of Lords and Parliament — this is what change looks like.
Our first full reporting period ends on 31 December 2026, and the Charity Commission requires our first annual report shortly afterwards, in early 2027. Rather than wait, we wanted the supporters who have carried us this far to hear how things have been going. Consider this a short, interim account of a remarkable first chapter — with our first full annual report to follow in the new year.
In the summer of 2024 our co-founders, Mark Preston and Carl Beech, travelled covertly into the artisanal cobalt mines around Kolwezi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They watched children digging, sorting and carrying cobalt, the metal that powers our phones, laptops and electric cars. They came home with more than 300 photographs and videos, and the conviction that they could not walk away.
Together they founded The Freedom and Justice Partnership, which today funds education, meals and care for children at Bon Pasteur in Kolwezi, keeping them out of the mines and in school, while briefing political and business leaders on child labour in supply chains.
This has been a year of pivotal progress, because we chose the path of collaboration and collective action.
“We’ve come further than I dared hope, and we’re still only scratching the surface. The next chapter is about quantative impact as we want to see as many children out of the mines as possible. But it’s also about creating systemic change and seeing things shift with those at the top supporting these injustices.”
We have identified the lack of educational access as a primary driver of the cycle of poverty in mining communities.
Working with established, on-the-ground organisations in DRC — including the Good Shepherd International Foundation at Bon Pasteur — to reach children quickly.
Facilitating school enrolment and providing resources for children currently engaged in artisanal mining, in and around Kolwezi.
Beyond immediate aid, we address the root causes of child labour in the mining sector.
Pressing for greater transparency and ethical standards across the global cobalt supply chain, and lobbying policy-makers as a credible voice in this space.
Working to hold stakeholders accountable for human-rights conditions at mining sites.
The video we filmed inside the artisanal mines has now been shown in Parliament three times, putting the reality of child cobalt mining in front of those who make the rules.
We helped bring together a group of leaders from the EU, the United States, Canada and the UK in the House of Lords to discuss child labour in the cobalt supply chain and how our nations can respond.
In July 2026 we welcomed Georgi Kapepula, our first team member, joining to support the founders and help move the charity forward. Her arrival is a milestone in its own right: the point at which FJP begins to grow into an organisation with capacity beyond the two people who started it — and the reason this report exists.
Our programme aims to reduce that number and see children out of labour and back in school. FJP continues to focus on bridging the gap between the global demand for minerals and the ethical requirements of the communities extracting them.
Ninety children are in school today who might otherwise be in the mines. This is just the beginning.
Ninety children are safe in school today because supporters like you chose to act. With your help we can reach many more — and keep pressing for a cobalt supply chain free of child labour.
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