An End of Year Message from the Forum Central Team.
As this year draws to a close and we look ahead to 2025 we reflect on a year of collective successes and challenges.
We recognise that this is a particularly difficult time of year for health and care colleagues, carers, and those who give or are in need of support. The work you all do, and that we advocate for, is a lifeline for many so thank you. Your organisation’s contribution to the health and wellbeing of Leeds is vital, valued and appreciated.
We can confidently say that Leeds has a third sector to be proud of and that is thanks to you and all Forum Central members. This year the strength and resilience of the sector has been more tested and more important than ever. As Volition Chair has referenced previously, there’s been dark clouds over the sector this year with the worst perhaps yet to come, but there will be blue skies again and we remain proactive in bringing about that time.
Narrowing our focus
This year has seen changes at Forum Central, as we, like many, have accommodated a substantial contract reduction, following a reduction in our statutory partners’ funding. We have mitigated the effects of this as best we can but capacity across the team has reduced and the work we undertake has been prioritised in line with our Theory of Change.
Our support to third sector organisations will continue, as will our strategic influence and collaboration with system partners. But we are narrowing our focus and workload to hone in on: reducing health inequalities, and sustaining a strong third sector in Leeds.
Although this is not welcome news, we remain in a strong position thanks to the work of our Finance Manager, Board and Team. We are closely scrutinising our budget for the next financial year and approach it with trepidation.
New office
A further change as a result of making cost savings is that we are downsizing our office. We will still be located in Joseph’s Well but our new office suite is E1 which is on the 5th floor (the penthouse suite you could say!). We look forward to welcoming you there in 2025 and still encourage you to stop by to say hi and ring ahead if you’d like to hotdesk.
2024 Highlights
Moving onto the positives of this past year there is much to celebrate, here are a few highlights which stand out:
- Welcoming 18 new Forum Central members.
‘ - Hosting or contributing to 4 marketplace events to mark awareness dates. The events independently centred around: Mental Health, Older People, Men’s Health, Disability and Accessibility. Each raised awareness of the wealth of great work and support on offer from the third sector.
‘ - Working with the West Yorkshire Power of Communities team, Voluntary Action Leeds, Leeds Community Anchor Network and other Third Sector Partners the team successfully managed the administration of a £309k grant fund. The programme reached and supported over 300 organisations with development and sustainability activities; and also invested in much needed infrastructure.
‘ - Administered £650K of Household Support Funding, which went to diverse community groups and organisations to provide much needed food and fuel.
‘ - Strengthening existing and establishing new partnerships including with LAHWN (Leeds Arts Health and Wellbeing Network) and 100% Digital Leeds through work on Digital Volunteering Partnerships.
‘ - Conducting a review of third sector infrastructure in Leeds alongside Voluntary Action Leeds and key stakeholders. This has given us new perspective and insight and enables us to plan for the future with a greater sense of our unique strengths and directions to explore development.
‘ - Supporting the year-long project dedicated to Annette Morris and Heather Nelson – Remembering What’s Forgotten which will culminate in a hybrid online and in person exhibition in 2025.
‘ - Bringing together a new third sector network focussed on Sexual Health as part of the Leeds Sexual Health partnership by Leeds City Council, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust (LCH), Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT), Leeds GP Confederation (LGPC) and Volition – Forum Central.
‘ - Building on learning from the Enhance Programme in its third year of delivery to support people in their home to enable timely hospital discharge and prevent readmissions.
‘ - Expanding the community-based element of the Community Mental Health Transformation (CMHT) to better serve adults with complex mental health needs in their communities. With provision offered this year by 24 grant holders – many of which are grass roots organisations.
‘ - Delivering Travel Connections – a three year contract in partnership between Leeds Older People’s Forum and the Motability Foundation – which aims to enable more people to travel independently, including older people, those with dementia and those with learning and physical disabilities.
‘ - MindWell has developed a volunteer programme and has begun to recruit volunteers and their ‘Give a Hoot’ campaign generated lots of engagement. New information tailored towards older people has been published on the MindWell website along with updates to much of the content.
‘ - There’s been a positive increased focus on work with neighbourhoods and local communities, championing Community Power. In part because of the national ambition to shift ‘from hospitals to community’ as well as the publication of Fairer, Healthier Leeds: Reducing Health Inequalities Report by The Institute of Health Equity as part of Leeds’ commitment to being a Marmot City. This builds on the great place-based work of the Local Care Partnerships and Local Community Anchor Network (LCAN).
Lastly, we’d like to remind you that support is available for the third sector in Leeds. Please reach out to one another, peers, colleagues and fellow organisations, or to us at Forum Central to share your challenges or experience as and when you need to. This page on our website collates links to Sources of support, information and resources for third sector organisations in Leeds which we hope you’ll find useful.
We look forward to continuing to work alongside you in 2025 as we welcome the new year with renewed hope and energy.
With very best wishes for the holidays and new year,
from everyone at Forum Central.
