The Leeds JLD Charity of the Year

The Leeds JLD aim to support a local charity with fundraising from our events throughout the year. Last year we were delighted to support St Vincents, a community hub based in East Leeds, which provides activities and support for people across the city to help equip them with the tools they need for a better life.

St Vincent’s also operates a food parcel service and charity shop, so if any members would like to donate items please do have a look at their website to find out more here http://www.stvincentsorg.co.uk.

This year, the Leeds JLD Committee have short-listed five charities for 2021, each detailed below. Voting is now open to members to decide our Leeds JLD Charity of the Year. To vote, visit https://www.leedsjld.com/charity-of-the-year. Voting will close at 4pm on 17 March 2021.

Zarach

Zarach is a charity that provides help and support to children living in poverty in Leeds. By delivering beds and basics, Zarach helps families in crisis rise up from surviving to thriving, so that children can eat sleep and learn. They are committed to ensuring all children have somewhere safe and comfortable to sleep with good, consistent access to healthy and nutritious food in order for them to succeed at school. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019, Zarach have delivered over 70,000 meals and 4,000 face masks as well as over 1,000 home learning items for local schools.

For more information, visit their website here: https://zarach.org

Catch

‘Community Action to Create Hope’ is a charity based in West Yorkshire that works with adults and young children, creating a safe space for the whole community and particularly, for young people. Their youth programme has over 1,000 members which provides a range of opportunities for sport, creativity and learning, as well as for volunteering and social action projects. Catch work in partnership with organisations such as the police, council and schools to make Leeds a safer and healthier place and act as a source of support, advice and inspiration to raise aspirations of people of all ages and backgrounds.

For more information, visit their website here: https://catchleeds.co.uk

Give a Duck

The Give a Duck Foundation is a charity which supports children who have been diagnosed with cancer. The founders created Give a Duck when their son was receiving treatment at the Leeds General Infirmary. The ‘Chemo Duck’ is fitted with medical lines and ports to mirror those of the child and means children find procedures less scary if Chemo Duck experiences the same treatment. The foundation operates in Leeds and aims to provide Chemo Duck packs to every specialist centre in childhood cancer in the UK, knowing that they can help make things a little easier at an extremely difficult time.

For more information, visit their website here: https://www.giveaduck.org.uk

Fareshare Yorkshire

Fareshare Yorkshire is Yorkshire’s largest food charity that have served those in need across the region for over 20 years. Fareshare are a community of independent franchised charities who work together to find hunger, food insecurity issues and food waste. They help to tackle food poverty across the country by redistributing surplus good quality food across the region, which would otherwise have gone to waste, turning an environmental problem into a social solution.

For more information, visit their website here: https://www.fareshareyorkshire.org

Leeds Mind

Leeds Mind promotes positive mental health and wellbeing and aims to help people build on their strengths, overcome obstacles and become more in control of their lives by providing help and support to those who need it. Leeds Mind offer services including counselling, group therapy, social suicide bereavement support and mental health training. Leeds Mind also offer support for employers to promote wellbeing and mental health support in the workplace.

For more information, visit their website here: https://www.leedsmind.org.uk

Voting is now live via our website and closes at 4pm on 17 March 2021.