About Us
Each organisation represents a specific geographical area in the city, usually based around ward boundaries, acting as the ‘anchor’ for their area.
This encourages groups and organisations within Leeds to be more connected, form valuable partnerships, share the experiences of their local communities and collaborate towards city-wide change.
Thirty organisations currently form the anchors in this network. You can find your local anchor from the map below:
What We Do
LCAN members are involved in a variety of work, examples of which include:
- Supporting smaller charities and community groups to be better connected locally and to decision makers.
- Rolling out a city-wide listening exercise focused on hearing the wisdoms and solutions of communities. Amplifying the voices of communities to decision makers in the city.
- Assisting in the distribution of the Crisis to Resilience Fund helping to coordinate joined up responses creating resilience within communities.
- Helping to co-ordinate the Welcome Spaces Network of third sector and faith organisations numbering over 200 across the city in winter months.
- Members working with Leeds Food Aid Network have provided food for the local community in collaboration with FareShare and the Trusell Trust and have created many new food pantries in communities.
- Working with Local Care Partnerships to increase community voice.
- Working with Leeds City Council about how Community Asset Transfer opportunities can be more accessible to the Third Sector and framing what we mean by Community Power together.
For more details about the city-wide network please contact LCAN@val.org.uk
LCAN Outline
This network is made up of organisations or partnerships who aim to help ensure the communities of Leeds thrive, as outlined in the Characteristics of a Thriving Community.
Sustainable and Local Community Development
Roles of an Anchor Organisation
Supporting community organising/organisations.
Show generous leadership by working with communities and local groups to develop their skills, representation and involvement.
Advocacy
Supporting the community to call for changes in policy and practice. Bringing the voice and the solutions from communities to the top table to influence city strategy and policy and affect systemic change.
Resourcing
Working with local communities to bring resources and opportunities into a neighborhood from the local authority external funders and other agencies.
Providing Local Services
Providing services which are co-produced with local people, ideally led by local people.
Strengthening Community Participation
Providing opportunities and supporting people to recognise the assets around them, Feel inspired and motivated to make a difference.
Involvement
And they want people to get involved in activities and have a say about local issues and services helping mobilise local democracy.
Partnership
Bringing together local groups and organisations to work in partnership to achieve all other elements undepined by our values of collaboration overcome competition.
Gateway
Helping people get access to the services they need through effective support and signposting.
Reports
Neighbourhood Matching Year 3 – May 2026
This report details the key successes and learning from the third and final year of the neighbourhood matching project in Leeds. Neighbourhood matching is a programme of volunteer led Social Action projects, co-designed and delivered by communities, where the commitment of volunteers is matched by funding that enables projects to grow.
Leeds Community Anchor Network – UKSPF Listening Exercise Findings Phase 2 Report – August 2025
This report highlights the key findings and learning from Phase 2 of the Leeds Community Anchor Network Listening Exercise funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). Unlike the LCAN Lottery listening exercise, UKSPF involved anchors from the six priority wards of Leeds, building on common themes from communities in the most deprived areas of the city.
Neighbourhood Matching Year 2 – April 2025
This report details the key successes and challenges from year 2 of the neighbourhood matching project in Leeds. Neighbourhood matching is a programme of volunteer led Social Action projects, co-designed and delivered by communities, where the commitment of volunteers is matched by funding that enables projects to grow.
Leeds Community Anchor Network: Listening Exercise Findings Report – January 2025
This report highlights the key findings and learning from Year 1 of the Leeds Community Anchor Network Listening Exercise. This report involved all members of LCAN carrying out ‘listening’ consultations in their individual wards of Leeds with local communities to find out key themes from their areas.
Evaluation of the ‘Local Care Partnerships – Pilot Project’ – September 2024
This report details the findings of a 6-month pilot with three community anchor organisations in three different areas of outer Leeds. The aim of the pilot was to establish whether there were any shared challenges and learning for organisations working in the outer areas of Leeds, and to explore the following questions:
– What does ‘great’ look like if LCPs and community anchors are working effectively together?
– How can anchors play a role to bring the voices of people and small VCSE groups closer to decision makers?
Neighbourhood Matching Year 1 – March 2024
This report details the key successes and challenges from year 1 of the neighbourhood matching project in Leeds. Neighbourhood matching is a programme of volunteer led Social Action projects, co-designed and delivered by communities, where the commitment of volunteers is matched by funding that enables projects to grow.
Shaping the Community Anchor Model for Leeds – June 2022
This report primarily focuses on the Community Anchor Model; a network of third sector organisations currently being set up in each ward across the city. Each ward will have a third sector organisation acting as the ‘Anchor’ who will establish close relationships with organisations in their local area, while also having valuable links with organisations and networks from multiple sectors across Leeds.
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