West Yorkshire Leadership Programme

The West Yorkshire Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Leadership Programme is a one-year initiative designed to amplify the role of the sector across WY, by supporting the development of emerging and existing community leaders within the VCSE sector. Participants will enhance their leadership skills and engage in a comprehensive personal development programme.

What is the West Yorkshire Leadership Programme?

Delivery of the West Yorkshire VCSE Leadership Programme

The VCS Alliance (VCSA) is the Health & Social Care Infrastructure organisation across Bradford District and Craven. We work in partnership to influence and transform health and care. One of our key functions is advocating on behalf of the VCSE sector and its value and supporting other VCSE advocates to do the same. We also provide and convene spaces and expertise for communities and the health system to come together to co-design and co-produce innovative health projects aimed at improving the health of our local population and reducing health inequalities.

The VCS Alliance (VCSA) will collaborate with Firefly Futures LTD to provide a bespoke solution tailored to the specific needs of all sector
colleagues involved. Firefly Futures LTD aims to ‘develop the leaders of the future,’ ensuring individuals, teams, and organisations become the
best versions of themselves, embrace diversity, and co-create high impact results and positive health service and social change.

The VCSA firmly believes that diversity and inclusion are integral to building a successful and thriving Health and Care System. By embracing a holistic definition of diversity, implementing inclusive recruitment practices, cultivating an inclusive culture, and partnering with diverse communities, we strive to create a balanced and reflective advocate network from the diverse communities we serve across West Yorkshire.

Who is eligible for the programme?

Participants who currently hold leadership positions or ‘influence’ roles within the VCSE sector and or wish to advocate for the VCSE sector within the health system are eligible to take part in the programme.

Recruitment and Selection Process

The VCSA will partner with Health Infrastructure Organisations (ISO’s) across West Yorkshire to actively promote the programme, leveraging existing reach into VCSE organisations and communities. Interested parties will submit a preliminary Expression of Interest (EOI) via written or video submission. Local ISO partners will then select their candidates for their district, using local knowledge alongside the application to ensure maximum impact is achieved from the programme.
To ensure that the programme is delivered equitably across the West Yorkshire Districts, the following numbers of places are available:

Bradford District and Craven: 9
Calderdale: 4
Kirklees: 4
Leeds: 9
Wakefield: 4

If any district is unable to fulfil its allocation, places will be offered to other districts.

Personal Development Programm

The VCSA adopt Lumina Spark Personality profiling as a creative and innovative framework to continuously develop our diverse staff team. Lumina Spark reveals your whole personality, providing a unique portrait of who you really are. The profile supports increased self-awareness, reveal hidden potential and how to cope better under pressure. It also discovers practical actions for improved communication, teamwork and leadership. Increase self-awareness with Lumina Spark | Lumina Learning

Steps of Lumina Spark:

1. Lumina Learning Step 1: Each participant will complete a Lumina Spark personality profile and receive a comprehensive report. The report is generated online through a 30-minute multiple-choice questionnaire. Support will be provided to address digital exclusion.
2. Step 2: Each advocate will receive a 90-minute online coaching call Firefly Futures to gain a deeper understanding of their personal ‘Spark’ and to gain better insights of their profile.
3. Step 3: Advocates will come together to share their Sparks and to unify the wider advocate/leadership network across the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership.

Shared Learning through Action Learning:

Action Learning is a continuous process of learning and reflection, supported by colleagues, with an intention of getting things done.

The cohort will be divided into mixed Action Learning groups, consisting of 5 members, with representation from up to four districts in each group. They will be facilitated by trained ALS practitioners from across the Partnership. Through action learning individuals learn with and from each other by working on real problems and reflecting on their own experiences. The process helps us to take an active stance towards life and helps to overcome the tendency to think, feel and be passive towards the pressures of life.
(McGill & Beaty, 2001)

Expert Sessions:

System leaders and VCSE advocates will share their experiences, discuss the secrets of success, the challenges they have faced, and how they have overcome them, providing role models of social entrepreneurship and leadership.

‘Experts’ from various sectors will help participants improve their skills in specific areas aligned with the programme’s learning outcomes. This is an opportunity to ensure an accessible training programme, grounded in practical experience and application and showcasing the ‘reality’ that they in turn can apply in a practical way to develop their personal leadership, their own organisation or their effectiveness in the wider system.

The content of this programme will be co-designed with participants and tailored to meet the needs of the wider group. Experts will be selected based on the overarching needs of the cohort. Topics may include

Courageous Conversations – Reframing and framing
How to influence/help people to hear us
Mapping our influence
How we move away from influencing from a place of perceived deficit

Hosted sessions will be recorded and made available and open to anyone in the sector who wants to learn but targeted at Senior Leaders or those who want to develop into these positions, supporting the wider legacy of the programme.

Time Commitment

Participants are expected to commit up to one day per month. This includes:

5 full days of in person learning, 1 in each in each area (TBC)
one group session with Lumina Spark
four Learning days that will include Action Learning sets
Technical / expert sessions (this will be short sessions lasting not more than 2 hours) These will be virtual sessions – the content / focus will be codesigned with the cohort.

Financial Reimbursement

The programme is supported by a bursary fund to support participation. This will be distributed equitably across the five places to ensure that leaders from marginalised organisations and communities can take part in the programme. This will be discussed through recruitment and induction to ensure that the expenditure maximises participation.

Timeline for the programme

May – July 2025 – Recruitment and selection completed by end of month

August 2025

Individual Lumina Sparks completed including 1-1 session by end of month
Co-design of programme with participants
Baseline setting of participants leadership skills/knowledge/experience

September 2nd 2025: In person Lumina Spark joint learning session – Bradford & Craven

October 2025: Virtual – Witness and Expert session TBC

November 11th 2025: In person – Inc Action Learning session 1 – Wakefield • December 2025: Virtual – Witness and Expert session

January 14th 2026: In person – Inc Action Learning session 2 – Calderdale • Mid-January 2026: Mid-point evaluation

February 2026: Virtual – Witness and Expert session

March 3rd 2026: In person – Inc Action Learning session 3- Kirklees • April 14th 2026: In person – Inc Action Learning session 4 – Leeds • May 2026: Virtual – Witness and Expert session

June 2026: In person – Final evaluation/celebration of programme – Bradford & Craven

Our approach to meeting intended outcomes

We will work alongside all ISO partners and participants to develop metrics to ensure outcomes are realised, including a theory of change / logic model to gain realistic, timely & shared outcomes.

How will we know …

Our VCSE advocates influence and drive impact during challenging times
Our VCSE advocates lead their organisations effectively as well as operate effectively as system leaders
Our VCSE leaders understand key health and care priorities and are able to collaborate/influence effectively in different areas

The VCSA Insight and Information Manager will be included in the co-design / production process to ensure that we are able to monitor proportionately throughout the programme.

Immediate legacy will be seen in the personal development and growth of sector colleagues involved in the programme.

Medium term outputs will be captured during a mid-point follow up evaluation and a final celebration event bringing together all parties to celebrate successes. ALS groups will be encouraged to become self-facilitating, to further enhance peer support and build legacy.

Long term outcomes, beyond the life of the programme and as a result of the positive changes made participants are able to influence, in a relational way, which in turn results in better services and greater outcomes for the diverse communities we serve.