LIC

George Osbourne announced in his budget that he would limit the amount of tax relief on charitable donations to £50,000 or 25 per cent of income. This change is bad news for organisations large and small. Philanthropists play a big role in funding the sector, last year 7% of donors gave 45% of the money donated to charity. Many of these gifts are used to set up grant-making trusts and foundations.

Sally-Anne Greenfield of Leeds Community Foundation (LCF) said:
“We believe that this is a very misguided decision that was intended to reduce tax avoidance but has resulted in a situation that is potentially extremely damaging for all charities. If the cap is introduced as planned, we believe major donors will give less and this means that vital support for community initiatives will potentially be lost”

LCF is urging Leeds residents to write to their local MP, and George Osbourne expressing their concerns and to sign-up to the Give it back George campaign at http://giveitbackgeorge.org/back-the-campaign

Job opportunity at Voluntary Action Leeds to lead on the Transform Leeds project.

The post holder will provide leadership, advice and direction to the process of transformation in Leeds and to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of Transform  eeds in line with defined objectives.

You will need:

• Significant experience of managing and delivering large, complex programmes within the Third Sector.
• Experience of financial planning, monitoring and review.
• The ability to develop and coordinate communications and disseminate strategies with consortia, partnerships and organisations in the local area.

Application deadline: 30 April. The post is fixed term until 31 August 2013.

Full details and application pack available from the VAL website.

The successful bid, led by VAL, will provide support to Third Sector organisations in Leeds over an 18-month period. The project will enable support and development organisations to provide co-ordinated and radically improved access to quality, cost-effective support and information. It will also help to ensure that frontline organisations are able to deliver better quality services, that are flexible enough to meet changes in communities and public policy.

VAL would like to thank all the partners that contributed to the bid, including Equality Leeds, Leeds Ahead, Leeds Community Foundation, Leeds Older Peoples Forum, Third Sector Leeds, Volition and WYCAS.

The bid was made possible by the Office for Civil Society (OCS) making up to £30 million available in Summer 2011. The opportunity was open across the UK, to bid for short-term funding to provide better support for front line Third Sector organisations by transforming local infrastructure services. The intention of Transforming Local Infrastructure is to fund partnerships of local support and development organisations to rationalise and transform the services they provide. The Transforming Local Infrastructure Fund is being managed by Big Fund, the non-lottery funding operation of the Big Lottery Fund.

Further information about the project will be made available shortly; or for more information contact David Smith, VAL Chief Officer (Strategy and Engagement), on david.smith@val.org.uk

A list of all the successful applicants to the Transforming Local Infrastructure Fund is available from The Cabinet Office website.

With effect from 30 September Voluntary Action-Leeds and Leeds Voice merged.

Following the Voluntary Action-Leeds AGM on 26 September the merger between VA-L and Leeds Voice was approved by VA-L members. Leeds Voice management committee met for the final time on 29 September to formally dissolve Leeds Voice.

The new organisation is called Voluntary Action-Leeds. Between now and December VA-L will be working on a joint website and newsletter. All will be revealed on 7 December at the Third Sector Conference.

The new trustee board will meet on 7 October when the new chair and vice chairs will be elected. The new trustee board is made up of the following people:

• Christopher Billington
• David Boutle
• Matt Campbell
• Adrian Curtis
• Kathryn Fitzsimons
• Chris Hollins
• Paul Landey
• Eddie Mack
• Joan Macleod
• Pat McGeever
• Sarah Murray
• Julia Preston
• Louanne Roberts
• Anthony Spice

Find out more about the Trustees on the VA-L website.

Find out more about the Trustees on the VA-L website.

A resource pack has been created offering advice and guidance to voluntary and community sector groups and organisations. The pack has eight sections covering a range of topics, as follows:

1. Governance
2. Marketing and PR
3. Finance
4. Networks and Partnerships
5. Funding
6. Planning
7. Monitoring and Evaluation
8. Resources for Operation

The sections can be downloaded individually from the corresponding Support section of this website or you can download the complete Resource Pack below.

Free Resource: LIC Resource Pack (.pdf)

Voluntary Action-Leeds has been chosen as the Lord Mayor’s Charity in Leeds for 2011-2012. Councillor Reverend Alan Taylor, the new Lord Mayor of Leeds, will be supporting Voluntary Action-Leeds (VA-L) during his year in office and raising funds through the Lord Mayor’s Appeal.

The Lord Mayor encourages everyone to give their support for VA-L as his nominated charity, to help the diverse range of voluntary and community groups across Leeds.

Find out how to donate

Thank-you to everyone who completed the LIC Third Sector Support Needs questionnaire asking about Third Sector Support Needs in September 2010.