Home Startups & Entrepreneurship Leeds Together announces new partnership

Leeds Together announces new partnership

In partnership with four key businesses, Leeds Together has announced a new series of networking events in support of local community projects across the city.

Local charity, Leeds Community Foundation is working with Clarion, Irwin Mitchell, RSM and Sky Bet to bring businesses and the community together. Offering a range of interactive skills sessions and networking events, the series will provide an opportunity to grow existing connections and understand the issues facing the city.

The first event will be hosted by law firm Clarion and welcomes inspirational speaker Richard McCann, who will share his transformation from being written off to being written about. He has published four books about his life, with his first selling half a million copies and being translated into 11 languages.

In 1975, when just five years old, Richard was told that his mother was missing – she was the first victim of the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe. Despite other tragic losses, and problems with drugs and prison, Richard turned his life around, becoming a motivational speaker and family man, with a film of his life in development. Today, Richard has delivered over 2,000 presentations around the world, inspiring audiences with his story of overcoming adversity, and sharing his powerful iCan approach.


The first event will take place on Thursday 22 November from 3pm-5.30pm at Clarion’s Elizabeth House offices on Queen Street, Leeds.

The next events will be hosted by Irwin Mitchell on Wednesday 6 February 2019, at Sky Bet on Wednesday 22 May 2019 and at RSM on Wednesday 3 July 2019. Tickets cost £40 per event (including Eventbrite booking fee), with all proceeds donated to The Leeds Fund.

Managed by Leeds Community Foundation, The Leeds Fund partners with businesses and individuals to create positive change in the communities of Leeds that need it most. Since its launch in 2016, The Leeds Fund has attracted significant investment from key organisations including John Lewis, Asda Foundation and HARIBO, which in turn has helped us to support over 30,000 people across the city. The strategic priority for The Leeds Fund in 2018 is Loneliness and Inclusion.

Kate Hainsworth, CEO of Leeds Community Foundation said: “We are delighted to be joining forces with Clarion, Irwin Mitchell, Sky Bet and RSM to develop The Leeds Together Series in support of Leeds Community Foundation and our work through The Leeds Fund. To continue reaching the people that are most in need in our city, it is vital that we bring businesses together to highlight the amazing work that happens in the areas that we live and work, and the role that we can all play in investing in our communities.”

Justine Osmotherley, partner at Clarion, said: “We’re really pleased to be able to partner with both the Leeds Community Foundation and other local businesses to help and support those in our community who need it most. That we get to do this while hearing the inspiring stories of those, like Richard, who have struggled and persevered through incredibly tough times is both humbling and rewarding.”