Leeds Faith In Schools

What Leeds Faith In Schools does

Leeds Faith In Schools (LFIS) is a registered UK charity (Charity No. 1106036), founded in 1994, that exists to bring a consistent Christian presence into Leeds high schools through three core service programmes: a Pastoral Programme (one-to-one mentoring, single-sex groups, prayer spaces and retreat days), an Educational Programme (tailored RE/PSHE lessons, including seasonal Christmas/Easter lessons, plus whole-school assemblies), and a Recreational Programme (lunch clubs, school drop-ins, the recurring "Rock Solid" lunch clubs, Christian Unions, and after-school drop-ins hosted in local churches). Service delivery is fully in-person via a small team of approximately 8-10 schoolsworkers embedded on named days inside each of 8 partner high schools in Leeds - Wetherby High School (since 2016), Prince Henry's Grammar School, Guiseley School, Garforth Academy, Carr Manor Community School (over a decade of partnership), Brigshaw High School, Benton Park School, and Abbey Grange Church of England Academy (one of the earliest partners).

There is no proprietary technology, platform, API, mobile app, or software product; the organisation operates as a relationship-led service rather than a tech-enabled business. Revenue is generated entirely through charitable donations (regular gifts, one-off gifts, and payroll giving), processed via Stewardship and the Communities Aid Foundation (CAF), with additional support from a network of 7+ named supporter churches across Leeds (e.g., Bridge Community Church, Churches Together in Otley, Gateway Church, Guiseley Baptist Church, Mosaic Church, STGS, St Paul's Ireland Wood) that act both as financial backers and as hosts for after-school provision.

The go-to-market model is community-led and partnership-driven: schoolsworkers are placed inside schools (effectively a "land-and-expand" embedded model), supporter churches provide funding and venue, and individual donors sustain the work via Stewardship and CAF. Marketing is limited to organic channels - the LFIS website, an email newsletter signup, a bimonthly PDF newsletter (e.g., January 2026 issue), and social media accounts on Facebook, X (@teamlfis) and Instagram (@teamlfis) - with no paid acquisition or formal sales motion. The organisation has no parent company, no subsidiaries, no disclosed shareholders, and no equity funding; it is governed as an independent UK charity with Ben Cordy as Team Leader and Emma Chadwick as Administrator & Operations Lead.

Name

Leeds Faith In Schools

Legal name

Leeds Faith in Schools

Website

https://lfis.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Leeds Faith In Schools is a registered UK charity, founded in 1994, that places schoolsworkers inside eight Leeds high schools to deliver RE/PSHE lessons, mentoring, assemblies, and youth clubs, funded by donations via Stewardship and CAF.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Faith-Based Youth Services

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (6111), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Faith-Based (Religious) K–12 Schools (EDAJABAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Faith-Based & Mission Service Programs (EDAIAGAI)

Keywords

• Faith-based youth work
• School pastoral support
• Religious education services
• Youth mentoring programmes
• Christian education charity

Headquarters

HQ city

Leeds

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Charitable donations: Accepts regular gifts, one-off gifts, and payroll giving facilitated via Stewardship and the Communities Aid Foundation (CAF). Direct bank transfers are also possible.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Leeds Faith In Schools (LFIS) is a registered UK charity that delivers faith-based youthwork, RE/PSHE lessons, assemblies, mentoring, and recreational clubs in Leeds high schools through a team of schoolsworkers embedded directly in each partner school. Services are provided free of charge to schools and are funded by charitable donations channelled through Stewardship and the Communities Aid Foundation.

Product overview

Leeds Faith In Schools (LFIS) operates a single charity-wide service platform rather than a suite of discrete software products: a unified 'Good News' programme delivered through a growing team of employed youth workers who, together, run three inter-linked core service lines — Pastoral Programme, Educational Programme and Recreational Programme — across eight named partner high schools in Leeds. The Pastoral Programme (one-to-one mentoring, single-sex groups, prayer spaces, retreat days) and the Educational Programme (RE/PSHE lessons, seasonal Christmas/Easter lessons, assemblies) operate inside the school day, while the Recreational Programme (lunch clubs, school drop-ins, Rock Solid lunch clubs, Christian Unions, and after-school Drop In youth groups hosted in local churches) extends the reach into pupils' free time and the wider church community. Sub-programmes such as Rock Solid lunch clubs, Drop In youth groups and Christian Union groups are recurring named offerings that recur across multiple school partnerships (Abbey Grange, Benton Park, Brigshaw, Carr Manor, Garforth, Guiseley, Prince Henry's, Wetherby High School). Supporting the work is a Charitable giving programme channelled through Stewardship and the Communities Aid Foundation. The charity itself is not a software product; no API, mobile app, or platform is offered.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pastoral Programme One-to-one mentoring of students flagged by school staff, single-sex groups focused on self-esteem and relationships, and spiritual exploration through prayer spaces and retreat days delivered inside partner Leeds high schools.
• Educational Programme Tailored RE and PSHE lessons (including seasonal Christmas and Easter lessons) and whole-school assemblies, aligned to school-set outcomes and giving pupils the opportunity to question and explore Christianity.
• Recreational Programme School-based and after-school youth provision including lunch clubs, local-church drop-ins, Rock Solid groups and Christian Unions designed to give young people a safe, supportive place to socialise and belong.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 30 years of continuous service to Leeds high schools since founding in 1994.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship / core partner (one of the earliest lfis partner schools)., core partner school., core partner school (over a decade of partnership)., core partner school (partnership since 2016)., supporter church (logo shown on 'our churches' page)., supporter church network (supports lfis work at prince henry's grammar school). and supporter church..

• Abbey Grange Church of England Academyflagship / core partner (one of the earliest lfis partner schools).Strategic or Co-development PartnerOne of the earliest schools to partner with LFIS. Supports the work through 'Rock Solid' lunch clubs, discipleship 'cell' groups, lessons, assemblies, prayer spaces and a wide range of other activities. Served by Kim (Tuesday) and Mark (Friday) from the LFIS team.
• Benton Park Schoolcore partner school.Strategic or Co-development PartnerLong-running partnership including lunch clubs, RE lessons, assemblies, mentoring, and the relaunched 'Rock Solid' lunch group. LFIS worker Kim is based in school on Wednesdays.
• Brigshaw High Schoolcore partner school.Strategic or Co-development PartnerMany years of partnership with regular assemblies, RE lessons and significant pastoral work. LFIS team is based in school 1.5 days a week (Ben on Tuesday, Mark on Thursday).
• Carr Manor Community Schoolcore partner school (over a decade of partnership).Strategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered for over a decade; LFIS acts as 'the' coach three times a week for a student group, supports RE lessons, mentors students, and runs 'Rock Solid' and Christian Union. Served by Ben Cordy since 2017.
• Garforth Academycore partner school.Strategic or Co-development PartnerWide-ranging connection supporting students via RE lessons, assemblies, personal development programme, and student support/mentoring. Served by Mark on Wednesdays.
• Guiseley Schoolcore partner school.Strategic or Co-development PartnerLongstanding partnership including sports coaching, lunch clubs, lessons, assemblies, and regular pastoral work. Served by Louisa Lawrence two days a week.
• Prince Henry's Grammar Schoolcore partner school.Strategic or Co-development PartnerSeveral-year partnership led in collaboration with the wider Otley Churches. Includes 'Rock Solid' lunch clubs, assemblies, mentoring, and an after-school drop-in group in Otley Bridge Church on Tuesdays. Served by Mark.
• Wetherby High Schoolcore partner school (partnership since 2016).Strategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership since 2016, supported by the Wetherby Churches Together group. Includes lessons, assemblies, girls groups, mentoring, and the in-school coaching programme. Served by Kim on Thursday afternoons and all day Friday.
• Bridge Community Churchsupporter church (logo shown on 'our churches' page).Strategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a supporter church of LFIS, working alongside the charity to encourage and support young people in the high schools its community serves.
• Churches Together in Otleysupporter church network (supports lfis work at prince henry's grammar school).Strategic or Co-development PartnerEcumenical network of Otley churches working with LFIS to grow the charity's presence in Prince Henry's Grammar School.
• Gateway Churchsupporter church.Strategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a supporter church of LFIS.
• Guiseley Baptist Churchsupporter church.Strategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a supporter church of LFIS.
• Mosaic Churchsupporter church.Strategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a supporter church of LFIS.
• STGS (St Gabriel's / St Theresa's)supporter church.Strategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a supporter church of LFIS (logo displayed on 'Our Churches' page).
• St Paul's Ireland Woodsupporter church.Strategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a supporter church of LFIS.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Faith in Schools (national network): UK-wide umbrella/coordination body for local faith-in-schools charities; LFIS is a typical example of the local member charities it represents, making it a direct category peer.
• Schoolswork UK: Christian charity specifically focused on supporting schoolswork in UK secondary schools, providing training and resources for youth workers in schools — a direct category peer to LFIS's school-based delivery model.
• Christians in Schools: UK charity that recruits, trains, and places Christians as school workers in UK state schools — a very close peer to LFIS in terms of recruiting Christian schoolsworkers to deliver pastoral, RE and assembly input.
• Open the Book (Bible Society): Bible Society's schools programme that sends volunteer teams into primary schools to deliver Bible-story assemblies — a directly analogous faith-in-schools model, though focused on primary rather than secondary provision.

Emerging players

• RE:ONLINE (RE Council): National Religious Education resource body supporting RE teaching in schools; partial overlap with LFIS's Educational Programme (RE lessons, seasonal Christmas/Easter content) though operating as a content/resource provider rather than a delivery charity.
• Children's Christian Charity (release time for RE) providers e.g. Distinctive Schoolswork: Smaller regional Christian schoolswork charity that places workers into schools for lessons, assemblies and clubs; comparable in mission and delivery style to LFIS, though typically operating in different UK regions.

Broad incumbents

• Youth for Christ: UK-wide Christian youth charity running school-based and community youthwork, assemblies, and RE support, sharing LFIS's model of placing Christian youth workers in schools and partner churches.
• The Church of England Education Office: National body that supports Church of England schools and facilitates Christian presence in state schools through RE/collective worship, overlapping with LFIS's work in Church of England academies such as Abbey Grange.
• Scripture Union: National Christian charity with a long-running schoolswork and mission programme (including 'Light Live' and school assemblies), directly comparable in mission to bring Christian presence into UK schools, though at a much larger national scale than LFIS.

Others

• All Saints Educational Trust: Grant-making trust supporting Christian education and the place of Christianity in schools, a thematically adjacent funder/enabler of the same faith-in-schools space in which LFIS operates.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/teamlfis
• Facebookfacebook.com/leedsfaithinschools
• Instagraminstagram.com/teamlfis

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Leeds Faith In Schools