At Voluntary Action Leeds (VAL) we offer a range of services to support small organisations to grow and develop. By “small organisations,” we mean those with an income of less than £20,000 or 1 or fewer employed staff, although we offer support to all third sector organisations in Leeds.
Much of our work in organisational development is delivered through funding support and the VAL training programme. We deliver this support online, in-person at Stringer House, and out in community settings, or if a number of organisations in your network are interested, we can bring our services to you.
We can offer support to small groups in the following areas:
VAL offers a wide range of training courses each month. Some of these are free, and some have a cost attached. Small organisations can access two training courses a year for free through our VAL training bursary.
You can find up-to-date course listings and booking links on our training pages.
If the course you are looking for isn’t listed, please contact our training team for upcoming dates.
Applying for Small Grants: FREE
Help your group to apply successfully for a small grant of a few hundred pounds up to around £20,000 to help run and expand your activities and services.
Applying to specific funders (e.g. Awards for All): FREE
A peer learning session for people from organisations that have already identified their project and the fund they want to apply to, but would welcome support in structuring what they want to say and make their bids stand out.
Introduction to Fundraising: FREE
To support voluntary and community groups to plan their fundraising effectively; assessing funding needs, identifying appropriate funding sources and methods, sharing skills and planning tasks.
Data Protection Basics: FREE
Introducing colleagues and volunteers to critical data protection law, exploring their responsibilities and the simple things people in your organisation can do to keep data safe.
Cyber Security (VAL receives per attendee support from NCSC): FREE
Designed and endorsed by the National Cyber Security Centre, this non-technical course enables colleagues and volunteers to explore concepts of cyber security and key actions to keep your information and systems safe.
Starting from Scratch: FREE
This workshop will enable new groups, starting from scratch to draft a constitution and understand the other tasks they need to carry out in order to become a small established group and to be able to apply for small funding grants.
How to Register as a Charity: FREE
This workshop will enable organisations to understand the process of completing an online application to become a registered charity, what the requirements are and what you need to do to complete this process.
Safeguarding Basics: FREE
Introducing new and emerging groups to the concept of Safeguarding and getting ready to develop a Safeguarding Aware organisation.
Safeguarding Level 1: Cost on Enquiry
An in-depth course that covers the staff and volunteer Safeguarding essentials.
Safeguarding Policies and Procedures: FREE
What should be in place to support the children and young people you work with.
Getting to Grips with Volunteering: FREE
An introduction to using the city’s volunteering platform and hints, tips and advice on writing and promoting an effective role description.
Leeds Volunteer Managers’ Network
The Leeds Volunteer Managers’ Network is a group of people who support and or coordinate volunteers in Leeds. This group represents large and small organisations and meets every two months to share good practice around volunteer recruitment and support.
If you would like to join this network, you can either email volunteering@val.org.uk or sign up for the mailing list.
Volunteer Centre Leeds
Volunteer Centre Leeds exists to support people across the city to find and engage in volunteering opportunities. The Centre is based in Kirkgate Market and is run by staff and volunteers. The team help people face-to-face, over the phone and via email, depending on each individual’s needs and circumstances. Most support takes place in person; people are welcome to drop into the Volunteer Centre during the opening hours (Monday-Friday 9:30am-4:30pm).
The team are also on hand to support small organisations to recruit volunteers.
Voluntary Action Leeds hosts a number of Networks & Forums including
Your organisations can join our regular LFSN and Facebook page, to share fundraising skills and opportunities.
We can give feedback on draft bids, check the fit with a funder’s criteria and help to strengthen your application.
As part of our VAL YOU service, we include packages of payroll support, including the payment of salaries and payments to HMRC and pensions, as your organisation grows.
Our building, Stringer House is a welcoming creative space just outside Leeds City Centre with five affordable meeting spaces available to hire.
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