The Power of Partnerships in building a Fairer Leeds

Leeds Community Foundation welcomed partners from business as well as personal donors and community organisations to our recent panel event. We explored the importance of working together to create long lasting and meaningful change for local communities in Leeds.

Our Chief Executive, Steph Taylor, opened the session with some stark statistics about the third sector in Leeds.

“14.3% of organisations across the city are at risk of closure, compared to just 2.2% in 2022. And similarly, 87.7% of organisations are having to reduce their services.”

At a time when cost pressures and demand for services are increasing, it’s more crucial than ever that we work together collaboratively and creatively to address inequalities in Leeds.

Steph was joined by Anjon Mallik, Partner at Hill Dickinson, Claire Marks, Chair of Trustees at The Bartlett Foundation, The Lord Mayor of Leeds Councillor Abigail Marshall Katung, Duncan Millard, Wellbeing Director at Humans Being and David Wilford, Chief Executive Officer at Bramley Baths. The panel members reflected on the ways in which they have worked with the Foundation, what long lasting change looks like and how we can achieve this together.

 

Connecting over shared values

The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor Abigail Marshall Katung, spoke about how she knew she had chosen the right partner in Leeds Community Foundation after hearing about our vision for ‘a fairer Leeds’. “All the words – addressing inequalities, food poverty and digital inclusion – they ticked every single box that I was looking for.”

Anjon Malik, Partner at Hill Dickinson LLP, stressed how giving through Leeds Community Foundation is good for both business and communities. “There’s an assumption by the corporate world that they know best, and they’ll raise money and decide who to give it to. But the Foundation absolutely know what’s going on in Leeds. They’re the experts in this. We trust them to know how our support will really make a difference where it counts. It’s a brilliant two-way relationship.”

 

Focus on unrestricted, multi-year funding

Claire Marks, Chair of Trustees at The Bartlett Foundation shared their journey of working with us to help them achieve their aim of providing unrestricted, multi-year funding.

“We knew for that model of funding to be effective we needed to have connections with the community sector, but we didn’t have the depth of relationship we needed. The Foundation did and we trusted their approach. It was vital for us that we worked together to make it an effective model of grant making that made a significant impact for those we were funding.

“They fast-tracked us into the community and helped us establish relationships. But more than that, they had the knowledge of where the need was and how we could best provide support, and they were able to share all that expertise with us.”

 

Duncan Millard, Wellbeing Director at Humans Being shared their experience of having a flexible grant for organisational resilience. “To talk about the importance of unrestricted funding, I first have to talk about what ‘normal’ funding is like. Funders give you project funding to deliver a service, you spend all the money and come back. Get the funding, deliver the service, come back. You’re like a hamster on a wheel. You can’t stop and think, and it’s very difficult to do that sustainably for the long-term.

“But then you get a funder like Leeds Community Foundation who say ‘We trust you. We’re going to invest in your organisation’. That is a point when you can actually stop and begin to grow. They’ve allowed us to do the things that are not very exciting for funders sometimes, but at the end of the process we’re better, more efficient and more sustainable. That means we can reach the people in the community that we need to reach quicker, and we can get out there and do more work. It’s been transformative.”

 

Finding success and passing it on

Bramley Baths has found themselves in a unique position, moving from grant holder to supporter. David Wilford, Chief Executive Officer, said “We were a recipient of funding where we were able to build capacity, do more things, and also help smaller charities who are less established to become more sustainable. The grant has been amazing in that way.

“We understand the vital role of Leeds Community Foundation as a funder in the city. We wanted to give back, supporting them to fund others in a way that has had such far-reaching benefits for us and our local community. So, we now we give a percentage of our profits to the Foundation each year.”

 

We’re incredibly proud of our strong and diverse partnerships, which help us to create long-lasting change. Join us in helping to build a fairer Leeds. Email hannahb@leedscf.org.uk to find out how you can play your part.