Leeds Community Foundation gives grant to Advonet charity

Advonet is a Leeds charity, providing independent advocacy support, helping local people to secure their rights, represent their interests and get access to the services they need.

Thanks to a third sector health grant from Leeds Community Foundation and the NHS Leeds Clinical Commissioning Groups, Advonet was able to run a project working to improve the standard of healthcare and reduce health inequalities of BME patients in the North Leeds area.

Here, Bushra from Advonet tells us more.

Could you tell us a little more about the funded project?

The Supporting Community Voices and Conversations project focused on improving local people’s access to healthcare services, providing support for people with long-term conditions, and educating patients about attending screenings. We also identified and trained champions within the diverse local communities to continue this work themselves. This helped extend the number of communities we could reach.

What difference did the funding from Leeds Community Foundation make?

The funding enabled us to recruit two volunteers as project workers. Having increased their confidence, knowledge and abilities they have both now joined the team as Advonet employees. This project enabled us to make contact with almost 900 individuals, and this number will only increase through the work the community health champions we have trained are doing.

Why are the services you provide so important?

As an advocacy service, we can support individuals with diverse issues and needs. We provide high-quality training for our staff and volunteers to ensure clients are supported and protected. The positive impact the service has on individuals is immeasurable and the absence of advocacy would create vast amounts of additional work for other services.

Leeds Community Foundation relies on the generosity of businesses and individuals who care about their city and want to ‘give something back’. 

l To find out more please visit www.theleedsfund.org.ukl Donate by cheque - make payable to “The Leeds Fund” and post to: The Leeds Fund, Leeds Community Foundation, 1 st Floor, 51a St Paul’s Street, Leeds, LS1 2TE

l Twitter @LeedsCommFound

l Facebook @LeedsCF