💻 Join us online to learn all about the Leeds Digital Inclusion Fund!
Hear about the programme criteria and application process, as well as the support that our partners 100% Digital Leeds can offer.
When? 6 July, 2pm
Where? Zoom
Register at the link in our bio 👆
Since 2005, Leeds Community Foundation has been working to create a fairer Leeds for everyone. Through flexible and responsive grant making, we enable and strengthen community organisations that are the backbone of our city, because when they thrive, so do our communities – and all of us benefit.
Our very first grants programme, the Social Enterprise Development Fund, funded organisations’ staff costs to pursue sustainable social enterprise ideas. As well as grant funding, each organisation was also given capacity-building support to help them realise their ambitions.
For over 20 years, we’ve been helping donors invest more than £72 million to benefit communities across our city and the wider region. As a trusted partner to businesses, foundations and professional advisors, we’ve delivered dozens of strategic giving programmes with life-changing outcomes.
Now, more than ever, our city needs us. With growing social, economic and climate pressures, grassroots community organisations have never been more vital, but with demand soaring and resources stretched, they’ve never been at greater risk. That’s why we’ll continue to develop partnerships, invest where it’s needed and build a fairer future, together.
Now open! Pears Youth Fund 👇
Supporting organisations to deliver youth work and promote youth voice, youth empowerment and youth activities
💵 Grants: £20,000 over 2 years
📍 Location: Leeds and Bradford
📆 Deadline: 08/06/2026 at 12 noon
💻 Learn more and apply at the 'Open grants' link in our bio
Thank you to everyone who joined us and @leedscivictrust for our supporter event yesterday!
We celebrated 400 years since Leeds received its charter, and the philanthropy that's helped to shape the city over the past 4 centuries.
Martin and Ross from Leeds Civic Trust guided us through a walking tour of the city centre, stopping at various places along the way to share the stories of some of the people who've helped make Leeds what it is today.
We also reflected on the role of modern philanthropy, and the difference we can continue to make for local people when we work together.
Thank you to @wellington_place_leeds for hosting our welcome, and to @laynescafe for keeping us sustained with delicious packed lunches and incredible Leeds biscuits!
And thanks to everyone who does their bit to make Leeds a fairer place for everyone.
#Leeds400
Are you part of a small nonprofit group in Leeds with an idea to do something good for your community? You might be able to apply for a Community Action Microgrant from Leeds Community Foundation.
💵 Grant size for constituted groups: up to £2,500
💵 Grant size for unconstituted groups: up to £500
📍 Location: Leeds
📆 Deadline: 04/06/2026 at 12 noon
If you'd like to join our grant application workshop with @volactionleeds , you can book your spot at the link in our bio.
And if you want to talk to the Leeds Community Foundation team about the grants, please email [email protected].
We’re proud to have delivered Climate Action Leeds Community Grants in partnership with Together for Peace. Over a number of funding rounds in 2023 and 2024, we invested more than £130,000 through 41 grants to Leeds community organisations.
The funding programme was part of the wider @climateactleeds project funded by @tnlcommunityfund 's Climate Action Fund. The project aims to create a zero carbon, more nature friendly, more socially just Leeds by the 2030s.
The Climate Action Leeds Community Grants supported locally-rooted organisations with small and micorgrants, to put their own ideas into action in their neighbourhoods. A huge range of activities were funded, from community gardens and composting schemes to radio programmes and street festivals.
Thanks to the funding, nearly 9,500 thousand people took part in climate action.
And as well as supporting the climate and environment, the projects helped the people that took part, too. More than 1,500 people say they appreciate nature and the environment more. 624 feel a better sense of belonging to their community. 400 people learnt new practical skills. And 383 have better mental health and wellbeing.
The impact of the projects will continue long into the future, with community spaces developed, and people carrying the knowledge and skills to reduce their carbon emissions, grow their own food, support local nature and so much more.
2 of our grants programmes are closing soon. Apply now so you don't miss the deadline 👇
Suicide Prevention Grants closes 27/04/2026 at 12 noon
Addressing Mental Health Inequalities in Minority Ethnic Groups closes 05/05/2026 at 12 noon (extended from 28/04/2026)
Learn more and apply: .uk/open-grants/
Community organisations are there where others can’t always reach.
They fill the gaps and provide the glue that keeps our communities together. They’re where people turn when they don’t know what to do. And they’re there from the start, preventing people’s problems from getting worse or even from developing in the first place.
Our community organisations make this city. And without them we’d be lost.
That’s why we invest in them to do what they do. Because they know their communities best, and they know how to support them.
If you want to make a difference for people in Leeds, investing in locally-rooted community organisations is the best way to do it. And we can help.
Drop us a message and we’ll connect you with a member of our team.
Closing soon!
We've got 2 programmes closing for applications soon. If you want to apply, make sure you complete your application by 12pm on the closing date.
Closing 17 April: Lunch Clubs
Closing 22 April: Lead the Change
Learn more and apply at the 'Open grants' link in our bio
Meet Tony from Cross Green Growing Together! 👇
“I come to the Digital Skills sessions at Cross Green Growing Together. I get free SIM cards, but every 6 months my phone number changes. I hadn’t realised people were trying to get in touch with me because they had an old number. That caused a bit of upset with my housing and benefits. They were going to repossess my house. Kelly and Mary helped at the session and sorted it all out. Now we’re setting it up so I can still get the free SIM cards but I can keep the same number so it won’t happen again.
We’ve also been sorting my phone out. I find technology hard sometimes. I’m dyslexic. I’m not very good at reading and writing. I don’t do texts and stuff like that, so we’ve started looking at how to do voice notes. We’ve taken off apps I don’t need because there was too much. And we’ve put things on the screen where I can find them.
I’ve been coming to Cross Green Growing Together since the beginning. I helped put up the greenhouse. I’ve done all sorts – digging and planting. And I’ve had bits from here that we’ve grown – potatoes and veg, and the strawberries when they’re out.
Coming back here since the pandemic has built my confidence up again. I’ve learnt a lot and I’ve been helped a lot here. It’s helped me to cope with my depression and things like that. When I’m down, if I come here, it picks me up again. I’m not thinking about the other things in my head, I’m thinking about what I’m doing. It’s nice to know that there’s somewhere I can go and not feel down, not feel unwanted.”
Cross Green Growing Together host a range of activities at their community garden and hub. From gardening groups and cooking sessions, to after school clubs and coffee mornings they take a holistic approach to meeting the needs of their residents. They’ve had a number of grants from Leeds Community Foundation, including a Leeds Digital Inclusion Fund grant to support their digital skills sessions.
Now open! Community Action Microgrants 👇
Grants for citizen-led projects and community development activities promoting equality, inclusion and community cohesion.
💵 Grant size for constituted groups: up to £2,500
💵 Grant size for unconstituted groups: up to £500
📍 Location: Leeds
📆 Deadline: 04/06/2026 at 12 noon
💻 Apply: at the 'Open grants' link in our bio
The programme will focus on newer and smaller community groups and organisations. As well as applying yourself, please pass on the programme information to any groups you work with that could benefit from this funding, and think about how you might support them to apply.
