Our Supporters:
Few and Far

Few and Far is a creative studio who work with charities to inspire their audiences and spread their causes across the globe. They recently became Members of Leeds Community Foundation.

Colin Grist and Thomas Nadin, Directors at Few and Far, speak with us about what drives their support for Leeds Community Foundation and what inspires them to make a difference.

 

• What’s your involvement with Leeds Community Foundation?

We’re currently a corporate member of the foundation and provide financial support to them via their annual membership programme. This money goes to Leeds Community Foundation to help them deliver grants and provide trusted expertise to Community Organisations in the area.

We recently went to CATCH, who are a charity who LCF support and to see their work and how they help to provide opportunities for young people in the local community and the support they provide to them was really inspiring. That’s just one example of the great work that can be done together and we’re excited to see other charities that benefit from being part of the foundation.

 

• How key is social value to you as an individual and organisation?

It’s of the utmost importance to us and is at the heart of everything we do. We started the agency to do things the right way, both in how we operate, how we treat our clients, the clients we work with, our staff and suppliers, but also how we contribute to the environment and the wider community in general.

Being a member of the community foundation is just one of the things that we are part of, as we’re also are a Living Wage Employer, are part of the 1% for the Planet alliance (which means we give 1% of our gross sales to environmental causes each year, whether we make a profit or not), provide mentorship and voluntary work to multiple charities and also provide a free service to charities and foundations to help them make more of an impact online.

We’re always looking at other ways we can help to do more, because we must be part of the change we want to see in the world.

 

• What community issues are important to you?

Mental Health is something we have both suffered with over the years and promoting mental wellbeing and breaking the stigma around mental health and talking about it, is something really close to our hearts.
Homelessness is also something we want to help eradicate in the city. One of our longest clients is St. George’s Crypt who help the homeless and vulnerable of Leeds. We’ve met some of the clients they’ve helped with their programmes and it was incredible to see these people who have struggled for so long come out of the other side and become upstanding citizens of the city.

 

• Has the pandemic altered the way you view investment into communities?

Definitely. Although we were lucky to survive the pandemic as a business, not everyone has been so fortunate. I think as we had time ourselves to reflect on everything in the pandemic on who we wanted to be and what we wanted the agency to do more of moving forward, as well as seeing the impact on people and businesses around us, we knew we could do more and so now here we are.

 

• What makes Leeds a unique city?

There is so much to do! It’s a modern city, but also has so much history hidden away; from pubs that opened in 1715, to the Corn Exchange that was built in the 1800s to even the Royal Armouries – a modern building that’s packed with history.

As people in the digital sector it’s packed with creative people who’re doing amazing work who inspire us every day to be the best we possibly can be.

The city has such a diverse community too, which helps the city feel open and accessible to anyone from any background. We’re lucky to work with some of the charities in the city too and they’re doing incredible things to help those less fortunate in Leeds and it means that it often feels like everyone in this huge city is pulling together, which you wouldn’t normally get unless you were in a smaller community or town.

 

• Have you got any advice for organisations who are looking to support Leeds Community Foundation?

Leeds Community Foundation are doing great things in the area and there are a lot more amazing causes in the area than you will realise unless you’re a member.

They can only help more good causes do even more of the work they want – and strive to do – with your membership help, so I’d suggest if you love the city and want it to be the best it can be – get involved!

 

Leeds Community Foundation creates opportunities for all by working with partners to make a positive impact within communities across Leeds and Bradford. We do this by generating and investing philanthropic giving as well as maximising statutory funding to deliver grants and provide trusted expertise into Community Organisations, benefitting thousands of local people.

Read more about our Membership here.