A new independent evaluation has highlighted the significant impact of the Leeds Community Vaccine Champions programme, demonstrating how trusted volunteers and community organisations helped improve vaccine confidence, challenge misinformation and strengthen relationships between health services and local communities.
Delivered through a partnership between Leeds City Council Public Health, Forum Central and Voluntary Action Leeds (VAL), the programme supported people and organisations already embedded within their communities to have open, honest conversations about vaccination with people who may have questions, concerns or barriers to accessing reliable information.
The evaluation, carried out by researchers at Leeds Beckett University, concludes that community-led approaches can play an important role in tackling health inequalities by building trust, improving confidence and making health information more accessible.
Community conversations at the heart of the programme
Unlike traditional public health campaigns, the Community Vaccine Champions programme focused on relationships rather than messaging alone.
Community Champions were trained and supported to have meaningful conversations with people in neighbourhoods across Leeds, listening to concerns, answering questions, challenging misinformation and helping people access trusted sources of information and local vaccination services.
The evaluation found that taking time to listen, understand concerns and build trust was central to the programme’s success.
Rather than relying solely on leaflets, advertising or digital campaigns, the programme recognised that people are often more likely to engage with someone they already know, trust or identify with.
The impact in numbers
The evaluation highlights the scale of activity delivered across Leeds:
These figures reflect a significant community effort involving volunteers, grassroots organisations and local partners working together to improve health outcomes across the city.
What difference did it make?
Researchers found that the programme increased people’s knowledge, awareness and confidence around NHS vaccinations.
Community Champions reported helping people:
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Better understand how vaccines work.
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Feel more confident asking questions.
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Challenge misinformation circulating within communities.
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Access trusted health information.
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Make informed decisions about vaccination for themselves and their families.
The evaluation also found that health services gained a better understanding of the concerns, experiences and barriers faced by different communities, helping inform future public health approaches.
Partnership working made the difference
The programme brought together expertise from across the health and care system with the knowledge, trust and reach of community organisations.
Leeds City Council Public Health, Forum Central and Voluntary Action Leeds worked together to establish the programme, develop training, distribute community grants and support local organisations to deliver activities that reflected the needs of their own communities.
This partnership approach enabled local organisations to design engagement activities that felt authentic and relevant, rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all campaign.
The evaluation suggests this community-led model offers valuable lessons for future public health programmes seeking to reduce health inequalities and improve engagement with underserved communities.
Looking ahead
The findings reinforce the important role that volunteers, community organisations and trusted local leaders can play in improving public health.
As health and care partners continue to address inequalities across Leeds, the evaluation provides evidence that investing in community relationships and local leadership can produce meaningful, measurable outcomes.
The programme offers an example of how partnership working between statutory organisations and the VCSE sector can create lasting impact by placing communities at the centre of health improvement.
As Forum Central’s draft response to the evaluation notes:
“The Community Vaccine Champions evaluation further evidences the valuable role volunteers and community-based organisations can play in promoting positive conversations around vaccination in communities with low vaccine uptake. We are incredibly proud to have been part of this strong cross-sector partnership and the asset-based model we have developed together. We look forward to continued collaboration with system partners to ensure learning from the programme is embedded within vaccination plans for the city.”
Read the evaluation
The independent evaluation was undertaken by researchers from Leeds Beckett University’s Centre for Health Promotion Research.
Read the full evaluation report
[https://eprints.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/id/eprint/13073/ ]
Watch the accompanying animation
[https://eprints.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/id/eprint/13074/ ]
Read the Leeds Beckett University feature
[https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/blogs/school-of-health/2026/06/community-vaccine-champions/ ]
