Supporting Leeds residents with health conditions and disabilities to build confidence, develop skills and move closer to employment.
Healthy Working Life supports locally rooted VCSE organisations to provide personalised support for Leeds residents who have significant health conditions or disabilities and are not in paid employment.
Through trusted community organisations, people can access support to build their confidence, improve their health and wellbeing, develop new skills and take steps towards learning, volunteering, employment or self-employment.
The programme recognises that moving closer to work looks different for everyone. For some people, progress might mean leaving the house more regularly, building social connections or developing confidence. For others, it might mean starting a course, volunteering, exploring a business idea or moving into paid employment.
About Healthy Working Life
Healthy Working Life is part of the Get Britain Working Trailblazer, a national programme being delivered in selected areas to support people who are currently not working or looking for work to move closer to employment.
The programme is funded by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) through the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) and is led locally by Leeds City Council.
Forum Central manages the VCSE grant programme in Leeds and supports grant holders throughout the delivery of their projects.
The programme is part of the wider Work, Health and Skills agenda and aligns with the West Yorkshire Work, Health and Skills Plan.
How the programme supports people
Healthy Working Life works through locally rooted VCSE organisations that understand their communities and can provide support in safe, familiar and trusted environments.
Projects support people to:
- build confidence and self-esteem
- improve health and wellbeing
- reduce social isolation and build supportive connections
- develop new skills
- access learning and training
- take part in volunteering
- explore employment and self-employment
- overcome practical barriers that can make it harder to move forward.
The focus is not simply on getting people into work as quickly as possible. It is about recognising people’s individual circumstances, strengths and ambitions and supporting them to make meaningful and sustainable progress.
The impact of Healthy Working Life
The first round of Healthy Working Life brought together 17 VCSE organisations across Leeds, supporting people with a wide range of health conditions and disabilities.
£720,000 programme funding
17 Leeds VCSE organisations
511 participants supported
Targeted programme outcomes surpassed
The programme supported people experiencing mental health challenges, learning disabilities, autism, musculoskeletal conditions, epilepsy, cardiovascular conditions, communication difficulties and other health conditions.
The organisations involved worked across different communities and parts of Leeds, providing personalised support shaped around people’s individual circumstances.
Different people, different journeys
Moving closer to employment does not follow a single path.
The experiences of people supported through Healthy Working Life demonstrate the importance of personalised support, trusted relationships and taking manageable steps towards individual goals.
From isolation to volunteering and new opportunities
One participant supported by GIPSIL had been living in supported accommodation and experiencing significant anxiety and isolation. Initially, it took a month for her to build the confidence to return calls and arrange a first meeting.
Her love of animals became the starting point for her support. Beginning with accompanied dog walks, she gradually built her confidence before visiting a local farm and securing a volunteering role.
She now volunteers at the farm every day and is preparing to train as a farm leader. She is also receiving one-to-one maths support as she explores future opportunities in health and care.
She said:
“If anyone in a similar situation needed help I would recommend they come and get this support. It helps keep me motivated and because of it being 1:1 it is more manageable than going straight back to college.”
Small steps leading to full-time employment
A participant supported by Leeds North and West Foodbank joined as a volunteer having never worked before. They wanted to gain experience, develop new skills and build their confidence.
Through volunteering, training and personalised support, they began taking small steps towards employment. After attending a careers event, they secured a part-time role as a carer.
They were later offered a full-time contract and moved into full-time paid employment.
The participant thanked the programme for helping them gain the confidence to take those initial steps towards work.
Turning a passion for rugby into a first paid opportunity
A young person supported by Rugby League Cares was struggling with confidence, social situations and uncertainty about his future.
His love of rugby league provided a way to connect with him and build confidence. Through the programme, he took part in activities focused on mental health, social skills and managing stress.
Having previously gained a basic refereeing qualification but feeling too anxious to pursue it, he began practising his skills in a supportive environment.
He has since been offered his first paid opportunity as a rugby league referee. While initially too anxious to attend his first session, additional meetings and familiarisation visits helped him overcome his worries and get started.
What makes a difference?
The experiences of participants and grant holders show that moving closer to employment is rarely about one single intervention.
What makes a difference can include:
- having someone who takes time to listen
- receiving support without pressure
- building trust over time
- starting with someone’s interests and strengths
- setting realistic and manageable goals
- addressing practical barriers such as digital exclusion or transport
- connecting people with health, wellbeing and community support
- providing opportunities to try something new in a safe environment.
As one participant said:
“The programme for me includes 1 to 1 sessions tailored around me with zero pressure and the freedom to open up when I feel comfortable, all at my own pace.”
Learning from the programme
Healthy Working Life is also an opportunity to learn from the experiences of participants and the VCSE organisations supporting them.
At the end of the first round, grant holders came together to reflect on their experiences and share what had worked, the challenges they had faced and what could improve future programmes.
Discussions explored:
- participant recruitment and retention
- referral pathways and partnership working
- gathering and reporting data
- programme support
- one-to-one support for grant holders
- opportunities for peer learning
- communications and promotion
- stronger connections across health, housing, digital support and other services.
Grant holders also identified practical barriers experienced by participants. These included digital exclusion, difficulties with lengthy registration paperwork, challenges explaining medical terminology in different languages and the time it can take to build trust with people who have had difficult experiences of services in the past.
This learning helps inform how Healthy Working Life develops and contributes to wider conversations about how employment support can better respond to people’s health, circumstances and individual needs.
Healthy Working Life grant rounds
Round 1 – closed
The first round of Healthy Working Life supported 17 Leeds VCSE organisations to deliver personalised support for people with health conditions and disabilities.
The £720,000 programme ran from September 2025 to March 2026 and supported 511 participants.
The programme surpassed its targeted outcomes and generated valuable learning about the role of trusted community organisations in helping people build confidence and move closer to learning, volunteering and employment.
Round 2 – closed
Nine organisations received continuation funding following the first round of Healthy Working Life.
The £144,000 programme enabled organisations to continue supporting people and build on their learning and experience from Round 1.
Healthy Working Life Fund
Further funding is supporting locally rooted Leeds community organisations to help people with significant health conditions or disabilities move closer to employment, with a particular focus on self-employment and priority given to projects that also support young people.
If you have any questions about this programme, please email grants@forumcentral.org.uk
