The Charity for Charities – What we do

10th June 2025

The Charity for Charities.

Hello and a warm welcome to the voluntary sector in Bradford district! We are Community Action Bradford & District, the charity for charities.

Community Action dedicate ourselves to supporting voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations across the Bradford District. We provide essential resources, guidance and opportunities to help community groups thrive. You might know this type of organisation as a CVS or Council for Voluntary Services—Community Action Bradford & District is one of these.

We serve the whole of the Bradford District, including Bradford, Shipley, Bingley, Keighley, Ilkley and everywhere in between. If your group has a BD or LS29 postcode, you can come to us for guidance.

We offer a wide range of services including:

• Organisational support – helping voluntary groups with governance, funding, marketing and strategic development
• Networking and collaboration – bringing Leaders’ together to strengthen our collective impact
• Training and development – providing workshops and courses to enhance skills and knowledge in the voluntary sector. Including the Getting Started short introduction/refresher courses, ideal for new groups.

If that isn’t enough, we offer rooms to hire, a community payroll service, weekly newsletters, a jobs board, and more! To see our full range of services, visit our website at www.cabad.org.uk.

Our new training offer:

Community Action commit to supporting grassroots organisations to thrive. As part of our commitment, we now offer training courses specifically designed to equip smaller charities and community groups with the tools they need to grow and sustain their work. The available courses include:

• Getting started – Set up a new group
• Getting started – Safeguarding
• Getting started – DIY fundraising
• Getting started – Manage a project
• Getting started – Protect your data
• Getting started – Manage volunteers
• Getting started – Promote your group
• Getting started – Measure your impact

Getting Started courses are free for organisations with an annual income up to £100,000. If your organisation’s annual income is £100,001 and above, the charge is £20 per person (non-refundable course fee). The provision of these courses has been made possible by the hard work of our trading arm, Bradford Community Payroll and Accounts.

To see full details and available dates, visit our Events Calendar. Courses will be repeated regularly so there’s not too long to wait if you can’t make it.

Email info@cabad.org.uk if you have any questions and we’ll be happy to help.

Big Meet: Bradford 2025, confirmed!

28th March 2025

We are holding our first-ever Voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭 event on the 24th April! The theme of our first Big Meet is leadership in tough times! We are pleased to have secured Bradford 2025 as our final speakers.

Alongside our current guest speakers, Anj Handa of Inspiring Women Changemakers, Dr Tiffany Holloman and Andrew Wilson of Same Skies, we welcome Maleehah Hussain and Malachi Swen representing the Bradford 2025 Youth Panel.

Tickets have now sold out but do join our waitlist in case any become available!

About Maleehah

Maleehah is a final year Law student at the University of Bradford. She completed a placement year at the Government Legal Department within the Civil Service.

Outside of her studies, she enjoys visiting museums, photography, nature, her faith, fashion and writing poetry.

Maleehah has been volunteering on the Youth Panel in Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture since January 2024.

Malachi joined BD25 because, he finds culture to be the backbone of society, without it there’s no substance to a place. Coming from Belfast over a year ago now Bradford has shown that’s it’s a city with a rich historic culture and he wanted to be apart of showcasing it through education and young people because that’s where culture gets kept alive.

A big thanks to our event sponsors.

RBC Brewin Dolphin is one of the UK’s leading providers of bespoke discretionary investment management for charities. We have been supporting charity clients for over 65 years and have a team of 46 specialist charity investment professionals operating out of eight key regional hubs.

Every charity is different and a “one-size-fits-all” approach is rarely the best option. We take the time to understand your unique circumstances, financial objectives, risk appetite and any ethical restrictions to build a portfolio tailored to your specific needs.

Whether you want to invest for income, growth or to secure your charity’s future, we are here to help.

CNet is a charity and company limited by guarantee operating across Bradford and District to support the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (VCSE). 

All of their projects are “co-produced” with local stakeholders, using an asset based community development approach i.e. utilising local skills, knowledge, resources and relationships to bring about positive change.

Over the years, they have developed and maintained connections with an extensive range of individuals, groups, organisations and cross sector partners. 

From small ideas that make a difference in a single community to big ideas that change the world, Participate supports people and organisations to realise their potential.

We do this by providing support that helps them develop and grow their ideas into sustainable projects and enterprises.