Leeds Community Foundation marks 20th anniversary: The Old Fire Station in Gipton is just one of the venues it has supported

National World - LocalTV

The Leeds Community Foundation is celebrating 20 years of supporting Leeds and Bradford voluntary groups and grassroots organisations, having generated more than £65m in grant funding and philanthropy.

Transcript

00:00Hi, I'm Steph Taylor. I have the privilege of being Chief Executive of Leeds Community

00:05Foundation and I'm speaking to you today from the old fire station in East Leeds, a fantastic

00:11community hub made rich by the people who live in the local area. Leeds Community Foundation

00:17has been going for 20 years and we exist to help people who want to make a difference

00:22in Leeds do that well. Whether they've got money to give that they can invest in local

00:27communities, whether they can use that money in local communities to do something to change

00:32other people's lives. We bring those people together and we help them make a difference

00:35in the way that's going to have the most impact. We opened in 2017, in September 2017, having

00:41been funded by local businessman Jimmy Heseldon who left a legacy of money to be spent on

00:48a gift to the people of East Leeds and that's what this is. We're a community hub in an old

00:54fire station so exactly what it says on the tin and out of this old 1930s building we

01:00deliver all kinds of support and activities and just fun things for the community of East

01:06Leeds and Gibson in particular. Everything from craft groups, gardening groups, walking

01:11groups, you name it we do it. It's been a fantastic journey over 20 years. It's not always been

01:18easy because the work that we do is complicated. It's about changing people's lives and making

01:23Leeds a fairer place. Our contribution has been to raise and invest £65 million into communities.

01:32We've done that working with all kinds of people. Over our 20 years we've made over 8,000 grants

01:38to nearly two and a half thousand community organisations so often these are small organisations making

01:45a change in place like we've got here at the fire station. I'm really proud of it and the

01:50work that the team here put into the building and what happens is just wonderful to see but

01:56I think the main thing that really has the impact is when you hear about the impact it

02:00has on local people and the transformation stories of people who've gone from quite difficult

02:06complex lives really suffering with their mental health who've been able to say come and do a

02:11gardening group here which helped them make friends, they've felt less isolated, their self-esteem grows

02:17and the knock-on effect on their life then is huge. Often we're supporting organisations that don't

02:22have access to national money, they don't have profile, they wouldn't receive fundraising from the

02:27public because nobody knows they're there because they're often hidden in communities and so we feel

02:32really privileged and proud to be able to find those people in communities that really understand what's

02:38going on and how to make a difference. From the point of view of philanthropy and the extraordinary

02:44effect it can have on a community this is a living breathing example of how important that is and

02:51the effect that somebody who has the money to be able to give in that way can really make a difference

02:56to people and can see and feel that difference on a daily basis.

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