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On 13^th January Leeds Ahead members came together to mark the start of the Leeds Year of the Volunteer and to celebrate the work that Leeds Ahead and all partners have done together over the last year to help the social and economic regeneration of Leeds.

The evening started with a vibrant session of business networking and socialising. Presentations by Nigel McClea, Head of Leeds Office Pinsent Masons, and Councillor Richard Brett, Joint Leader of Leeds City Council, highlighted the fantastic achievements of Leeds Ahead and its member businesses in supporting the Vision for Leeds, which have seen over 18,000 people benefiting from support and in excess of £620,000 invested by businesses into the community over the last 3 years.

During the event Stephanie Burras (CEO) highlighted some of the milestones achieved during the last year, these include Leeds Legal week 2009 where over £19,000 was invested by law firms into local primary schools, Aire action week 2009 where £3,587 was invested into the local environment at Thwaite Mills and a variety of mentoring programmes supporting new business start ups, community leaders and school children investing £92,800 worth of support across the city. 

For 2010, following consultation and feedback from members, we will begin to propose programmes of work in the City that cover more than one sector of delivery and are themed (eg business sector, geographical) in order to maximise broader sustainable outcomes delivering to more recipients as both individuals and communities.       

Leeds Ahead would like to thank everyone who has worked with us over the past year to help narrow the gap between the city's haves and have nots.