In 2025, Leeds Community Foundation invested more than £1.5 million in local communities through its flagship programme, The Leeds Fund. The fund is designed to help community organisations respond to major challenges facing the city, including the rising cost of living, increasing social isolation, and the growing climate crisis, while also supporting long-term resilience and positive change.
In its latest funding round, the foundation awarded 30 organisations two-year grants of £50,000 each. This latest round has brought the total amount distributed through The Leeds Fund since its launch in 2016 to nearly £4.5 million. Building on this momentum, the foundation is now encouraging businesses and individuals to contribute to the fund to expand its impact even further in 2026 and help create a fairer Leeds.
The Leeds Fund supports a wide range of local community organisations working to improve daily life across the city. Funded activities range from theatre and dance classes to programmes addressing health inequalities, loneliness, and wellbeing. Importantly, the grants are not limited to direct service delivery; they also help organisations strengthen their internal capacity so they can plan ahead, grow sustainably, and deliver lasting benefits for their communities.
One example of the fund’s impact comes from Humans Being, a Community Interest Company that supports wellbeing among marginalised groups. Its representative described The Leeds Fund as one of the most impactful grants they had encountered in over two decades of grants and organisational management. According to the organisation, the funding had a transformative effect by attracting further support, expanding its reach to vulnerable people, strengthening community connections, and improving its ability to plan confidently for the future.
The foundation emphasizes that The Leeds Fund is made possible through the support of donors and partners whose combined contributions create collective impact. This collaborative funding model allows the foundation to pool resources and direct them where they are most needed, ensuring that both large and small donations can contribute to meaningful and lasting improvements across Leeds.
The 30 organisations funded in the latest round will use their grants flexibly, combining project delivery with organisational development in ways that best suit their needs. In addition to helping them continue serving communities now, the funding also enables them to invest in leadership, governance, workforce development, financial sustainability, and long-term strategic planning. This flexible structure is intended to help organisations remain strong and effective well beyond the grant period.
A distinctive feature of The Leeds Fund is its responsiveness to community feedback. In this funding round, organisations could apply for additional support specifically to help them take action on climate change and cover training and development costs. These added funding opportunities reflect the foundation’s effort to design grants that meet both immediate local needs and broader long-term priorities.
The foundation presents giving through The Leeds Fund as a simple and effective way for both individuals and businesses to support the city. By combining donations of all sizes, the fund maximises collective impact and channels resources toward urgent issues such as health and wellbeing, learning opportunities, and inequality. This pooled approach allows donors to contribute to citywide change while relying on the foundation’s local knowledge and long-standing relationships with community organisations.
Leeds Community Foundation also highlights its credibility and track record in managing charitable giving. Long-standing supporters note that the foundation has been operating for 20 years and has distributed more than £70 million overall, demonstrating its experience in directing donations effectively to where they can have the greatest benefit. This history helps build trust among donors who want their contributions to create real community impact.
Overall, The Leeds Fund continues to play a major role in strengthening Leeds’ community sector by combining flexible funding, donor collaboration, and long-term investment in local organisations. With more than £1.5 million invested in 2025 alone and continued calls for support in 2026, the programme is positioned as a powerful tool for building a fairer, more resilient, and more inclusive city.
