Supporting communities through the cost of living crisis

Leeds Community Foundation and GiveBradford work alongside Community Organisations in Leeds and Bradford funding them to address inequities and create opportunities.
Recent reports have shown how hard things are right now: with the cost of living crisis on top of austerity, cuts to public services, insecure employment, rising debt, and the impact of world events on local people.

It means the burden of poverty across our area continues to rise (see JRF report from May/June 2022) At the Foundation we have seen demand rise – applications for a fuel poverty programme received more than double the number of applications in 2022 than in the previous year. It’s also a tough environment for raising the funds that we give out in grants. Philanthropy has reduced since 2020 (see this article ‘The cost of giving crisis’ from July 2022).

We are hearing and seeing this everyday through our close relationship with donors and Community Organisations in Leeds and Bradford, further highlighting the absolutely vital work that is locally supported by generous people who care about their cities and the people in them.

Without Community Organisations providing for these individuals and families, Leeds would be facing a much higher degree of hardship.  Community Organisations are now providing safety net services for more and more vulnerable individuals and families.

Our membership body, UK Community Foundations, along with nearly 50 other sector bodies, has called upon Government to include charities and voluntary organisations in its support plan for businesses. The open letter calls for quick action ‘to provide targeted financial support for those charities and voluntary organisations that are on the frontline of supporting people ‘.

We have seen how communities are best placed to identify, develop and deliver solutions to the issues that are emerging – community-led approaches with Community Organisations working in collaboration with each other, and with public and private sector partners. Our aim at the Foundation is to support the long-term sustainability and survival of these Organisations – to ensure they are in the best shape possible to do what they do best – thereby supporting many thousands of people in our area needing their help.

We do this is in a number of ways:

• • • • We aim to distribute £4+million to Community Organisations in 2022/23. Last year we supported approximately 350 organisations and increased the focus around delivery of more flexible, longer-term and unrestricted funds – in response to listening to what the sector needed.
      • The breadth and depth of our funding programmes. Our portfolio of funding continues to fund organisations to respond to some of the challenges we now see unfolding. Supporting delivery around holiday food and activity and fuel poverty, energy efficiency mental and physical health and wellbeing overcoming isolation and loneliness and employability and skills.
      • Securing income into The Leeds Fund so we can be a lifeline into the sector – providing more flexible longer-term funding to support Community Organisations to be sustainable to exist long into the future, delivering vital services across their community.
      • By advocating on behalf of the sector, championing the case for more resources and investment for Community Organisations, which are best placed to respond to the immediate needs of their community.

Help us to support Community Organisations in Leeds, find out more about the ways in which you can do this here.