A New beginning

We are delighted to announce the merger of Lineham Farm with Leeds Children's Charity which will create a much stronger offering to support the underprivileged children of Leeds.

28th September 2020

By   Ian Hargreaves

We are delighted that after months of negotiating we can formally announce the merger of two of Leeds most well respected charities.

Leeds Children’s Charity and Lineham Farm have long been established charitable organisations servicing the same individuals – children of Leeds aged between 7-11, from a variety of disadvantage backgrounds. Both charities have also had strong embedded links with Leeds City Council, which has changed and evolved over the last few decades.

With Leeds Children’s Charity wanting to make its service more accessible to a wider range of children who need its help, and Lineham Farm wanting to refocus the Charity on the cause of those children who need us most, the charities have decided to merge to create a stronger service proposition to support the continuing needs of disadvantaged children of Leeds.

Leeds Children’s Charity has always provided respite breaks for those who need it most and now it is able to do so in a 120-acre setting within beautiful magical countryside which could be anywhere (although is only 6 miles out of Leeds City Centre).  This closer proximity of delivery to the children it supports provides the charity with much greater opportunity, in both the positive impact it can have on the children and the engagement with its loyal supporters.

The new Charity will become stronger together, creating independence from Leeds City Council whilst still delivering a positive service in line with wider aims in terms of physical and mental health of children from the City. We will be able to meet the needs of a greater number of children, a more diverse range of circumstances and deliver a better service – built upon an essence of personal, charitable support centred around fun, adventure, compassion, positive challenge, and family values.

Our fundraising efforts are designed to enable us to deliver a greater number of respite breaks, in a best-in-class outdoor educational complex. Children who pass through our care will be encouraged to realise and develop their full potential. This will not only benefit themselves, but also the wider community and anyone who they engage with throughout their life.

We are excited that this new charitable entity will be able to surpass, through its delivery, what either organisation could have achieved on its own.  We hope to maintain supporters from  our previous operations, who agree that Leeds Children’s Charity at Lineham Farm, as a whole, is much stronger than the sum of its parts.