Leeds Community Foundation calls on businesses and individuals to help as gap in available funding reaches 70%

Leeds Community Foundation, which distributes grants and gives trusted advice to tackle social issues and inequalities in Leeds and Bradford, is reporting a 70% gap between demand and available funds as pressures on local communities intensify.

Between January and October 2023, the foundation was able to award 30% of grants that were applied for because needs in the communities have risen sharply against a backdrop of diminishing philanthropic appetite fundraising activities and statutory funding. Over 700 different grant applications have been received already this year.

Kate Hainsworth, CEO of Leeds Community Foundation, said that deciding on which grants to award was underpinned by strict governance procedures and it was extremely difficult knowing that demand was outstripping availability of funds. She encouraged businesses and individuals from Leeds to give directly to the The Leeds Fund – which ploughs money into community and voluntary groups to help thousands of people with a wealth of support including skills, education, housing and employment. Launched in 2016, The Leeds Fund has channelled £3m into grassroot community groups to date.

Hainsworth added: “The Leeds Fund is the perfect vehicle to provide long-term support for Leeds. Not only is it a vital resource trusted by the community and donors to invest money in the right places, but collectively it makes a truly lasting positive impact. Since  2016, The Leeds Fund has helped mental health initiatives, emergency resilience in the pandemic and sustainability programmes to name a few. It provides a way of people of Leeds giving back to their region with purpose.

“We have this year been inundated, with a much higher rate of grant applications for different programmes. Demand always has peaks and troughs, but we have noticed how particularly anxious groups are this year to secure crucial core funds. When we’re unable to help, we work closely with the community organisations to signpost to other appropriate funding sources but we will always go above and beyond to help community groups. But the really worrying thing is that because of societal issues and cost pressures, people and organisations are running out of options and don’t know where to turn. If anyone is in a position to help others financially right now, The Leeds Fund is for them.”

Over the course of its five-year strategic plan (2019-2024) plan to date, the Foundation has distributed £19+million to Leeds and Bradford charitable and voluntary groups; supporting in excess of 300,000 people living in some of the region’s most deprived areas.

Kate Hainsworth has been the CEO at Leeds Community Foundation since 2018, previously working as Development Director and Deputy CEO since 2015.  She is soon to step down and current Deputy CEO Steph Taylor has recently been named as the organisation’s incoming CEO from January 2024. Also this year, the Foundation oversaw the transition from Nick Lane Fox to Cleveland Henry as Chair of the board.

Cleveland Henry, Chair of Leeds Community Foundation, said: “From the moment I heard about the work of Leeds Community Foundation, I was able to see firsthand what they deliver and could see how the organisation has really responded to the demand for its support and funding in recent years. There is a lot to thank the Foundation for: they were one of the first to put in place a resilience fund for communities to respond to challenging times during Covid while also thinking about the long-term preventative strategies to address the health, social and wellbeing inequalities that exist on our doorsteps.

“Leeds is a typical doughnut city – there is affluence in the centre, challenges around the areas circling the centre like a doughnut and affluence outside of it. It feels too much like ‘the have’ and ‘the have-nots’ and that can’t be the case in 2023. Leeds Community Foundation has helped so many people but the demand is still outstripping supply; whenever I’m involved in a grant application meeting it’s frightening just how many people need our help.

“Individuals and businesses can help by investing cash into The Leeds Fund to make a positive and direct impact for those living in Leeds and Bradford who are struggling with issues like hunger, loneliness and digital exclusion every single day. Membership is £1k a year and every contribution makes a difference. The supporters we have are making a meaningful impact for people struggling in their neighbourhood and that’s why it’s so much more than virtue signalling – they play an active role via supporting the foundation.”

Cleveland added that Leeds Community Foundation was doing all it could to channel funds into long-lasting, preventative initiatives which help address a range of social issues. For younger people, that could be supporting them to access employability skills, technology and attend community groups which help to build their confidence; ultimately opening doors to employment.

The charity Flourishing Families Leeds was set up in 2017 with a mission to help thousands of people living in communities in the city which are among the lowest 10% of deprivation levels in the country. It received one of its first ever grants from Leeds Community Foundation and has since been able to expand its work across East, West and South Leeds. In the last year alone, the charity has directly supported more than 820 children, parents and carers.

Leeds Community Foundation has awarded Flourishing Families several different funding grants over the years, enabling the organisation to grow and help thousands more people.

Kate Colbrook, CEO of Flourishing Families Leeds, shared that the most recent strategic grant from The Leeds Fund had been “invaluable and made a vital difference to support long term capacity building.”  Flourishing Families Leeds has now received royal recognition with the award of the King’s Award for Voluntary Service – the highest honour afforded to a charity in the UK.

The organisation exists to address long-term issues around food poverty, nutrition, wellbeing and literacy; working directly with children and their wide family network to release potential and bring down barriers that hinder families from flourishing via practical support such as family cookery clubs, family literacy groups and mentoring programmes.

Kate Colbrook said: “Poverty is multifaceted and deeply entrenched. We’re working with families everyday who experience intergenerational poverty throughout their lives.

“We’re transforming lives. Those children being mentored have improved confidence, resilience, quality of relationships and have an improved ability to positively deal with challenging circumstances. Families learning to cook together have vastly improved their diets and changed their long-term health outcomes for the better. Barriers to learning have been overcome by children and their family members reading together – with many parents then becoming part of our adult literacy groups.

“Our work is helping to overcome social, emotional and financial challenges faced by thousands of families. Building friendships, teambuilding and networks of support is helping people to turn around cycles of long-term poverty.

“With increasing costs across the board, including our own running costs, raising money and supporting causes on your doorstep is more important than ever before. We need to collectively work together to help people trapped in a cycle of poverty – often they are only a few minutes from where people in more affluent areas live and work.”

Tim Hodgson, Managing Director of Westcourt Group, has supported Leeds Community Foundation for 18 years. “Leeds Community Foundation is a powerful conduit which helps so many organisations doing great work to help thousands of individuals across the region,” he said.

“There are large swathes of the city where people are living in extreme poverty and the difference in life expectancy can be as much as 12 years depending on postcodes. That’s stark. Supporting the foundation is about ‘looking after your own’ – helping neighbours in the place we all call home.”

As well as giving to the Foundation via Membership annually, Tim and his family have also donated to The Leeds Fund, which specifically deals with issues close to their hearts. Tim added: “We have a young family and the money that we’ve given over the years has gone towards children needing help; whether that’s with food or wellbeing initiatives for example.

“People in fortunate circumstances can give as much or as little as they can to a fund, knowing that the grants given out via Leeds Community Foundation connect directly to people who need it most. It’s an organisation which provides a pathway to charities, organisations and individuals on our doorstep in Leeds.”