Neighbourhood Matching is a simple concept at heart: a group of volunteers decide what they want to do, and for every hour they volunteer, their project receives £10.

It’s not a new idea—the best ones often aren’t! The concept was shaped through an Asset-Based Community Development lens and first successfully trialled in Seattle in the 1980s.

Leeds as a city has been committed to working in an asset-based way for many years, and Leeds City Council has funded the proliferation of an ABCD model for the last 13 years, with an ambition to shift power to people, helping communities to thrive.

The ABCD Team within Leeds City Council have funded Neighbourhood Matching Scheme which is now in its final year. In year one, New Wortley Community Centre, Holbeck Together, Cottingley Community Centre, and Hamara led the way. LS14 Trust and Touchstone built on their learning to take the reins in year two.

Just to share a few examples of projects that benefitted from the funding: in Holbeck, residents gave their time to litter picking to fund new bins for the area; New Wortley Community Centre partnered with Armley CAN to create a vibrant “Corridor of Colour” across the ward; in Seacroft, Chapel FM volunteers grew and cooked their own vegetables; and in Burmantofts, the John Paul Awi Foundation hosted community events to raise awareness of mental health support.

These are just a handful of the 46 projects that have been inspired and supported by the fund.

Year three is now underway, with St Luke’s Cares, Give a Gift, and Space 2 coordinating the funds in their areas. Some of the new projects are already showing great promise: a small but dedicated group of volunteers in Gipton are working to improve the water quality of Wyke Beck; a group of women in Harehills are launching a new women’s group; and Middleton Railway is aiming to diversify its volunteer base and connect with new volunteers in the area.

All of this is incredibly exciting—and at the heart of it all are volunteer-led actions. In conversations with groups, one theme keeps coming up: people are motivated not just by the opportunity to contribute, but by the fact that decisions are made collectively. This sense of shared ownership is powerful. Real change begins with these seeds—where a group of volunteers might commit 100 hours (£1,000)—and this grows into something bigger. Having a community-led ethos at the core is what makes it truly transformative.

The stories behind these projects are worth more than the headline figures—but the numbers are useful too! From April 2023 to June 2025, here’s an infographic of what the data shows.

 

 

 

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