Together we can make Yorkshire a place
where every person can thrive
in their life and work

Services

What we do

We design and lead innovative partnership projects that transform the lives of people across Yorkshire

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Who we are

A small team with a big ambition to create a Yorkshire where every person is empowered to thrive in their life and work

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Our Impact

Inspirational stories of change, growth and transformation across our community-focused  programmes

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Welcome

Better Connect is a Knaresborough-based non-profit organisation that aims to create a Yorkshire where every person is empowered to thrive in their life and work.

Founded in 2007, we have an established track record of leading successful partnership projects and working with a wide range of locally based partners in the heart of communities.

We partner with organisations across all sectors, with a particular focus and specialism of supporting and strengthening organisations from the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector.

We believe that locally rooted organisations with a strong social mission who work in effective partnership with others have the biggest impact on individuals and communities. We exist to create those partnerships and unlock the potential of local organisations.

Meet Our Team

What we do

We exist to create Better Connections for people and organisations across Yorkshire. All our work contributes to our 3 strategic goals

Transform Lives

Transform Lives

We design and lead innovative partnership programmes that transform the lives of people across Yorkshire

Empower Partners

Empower Partners

We provide specialist support to partners to become more impactful, resilient and sustainable

Inspire Change

Inspire Change

We promote social inclusion as an essential part of creating vibrant, productive and prosperous communities

Our Projects

Rise

Rise

RISE is an employability programme for people in North Yorkshire and York who are economically inactive and aged 18 or over (or 15-17 and NEET). It is for people furthest from work with multiple complex barriers e.g. mental/physical health issues.

Multiply

Multiply

Multiply is the government’s new £560 million programme to help transform the lives of hundreds of thousands of adults across the UK and will be delivered through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Thriving at Work

Thriving at Work

The project aims to support more people to thrive at work. It has a particular focus on supporting inclusive workplaces that can unlock the potential of staff who are neurodiverse, disabled or experience mental health challenges.

Action Towards Inclusion

Action Towards Inclusion

Action Towards Inclusion is a life changing programme that offers support to adults in York, North Yorkshire and the East Riding and helps people into employment and training.

News and Updates

Inspiring Leaders – Jacky and Joe

Blog Careers Meet the Team news item RISE Thriving at Work

  Developing your leaders and managers in a way that supports your business is key to your success. Pro-Development work with managers and leaders to help them to develop their skills and confidence enabling them to become an inspiring and authentic leader. They offer a range of support, programmes, tools and techniques for people at

Apertures, City Maps & Budgeting- Up for Yorkshire on Jon’s Multiply Journey

Blog Mental Health multiply news item RISE

  Up for Yorkshire are one of our fantastic partners on the Multiply programme, and have been running a range of sessions across year 2 of provision to inspire numbers confidence and encourage participants to utilise their maths skills on the daily. From bushcraft to budgeting, to cooking, sewing, and photography geared sessions, the team are

Multiply’s Magic- Navigating Numbers With Coterminous

Blog LGBT+ multiply news item Wellbeing Resources

  A couple of weeks ago the Impact team paid a visit to York Travellers Trust. Light, bright and welcoming, the Trust is a cohesive community space for Gypsy and Traveller Communities, which doubles up as a foodbank, education centre, community-hub, and refuge for meaningful conversations. Coterminous, one of our fantastic partners on the Multiply

Report Launch! A Qualitative Evaluation of Better Connect’s Thriving at Work: Workplace Support

Blog Disability Mental Health news item Research & Reports Thriving at Work

  Last week, we launched our in-house Thriving at Work report, and as part of the round-up, today we’re excited to launch our evaluative report on the 121 Workplace Support strand of the programme – read it here. Led by Dr Jane Suter, Dr Annie Irvine, and former TAW Programme Manager, Emma Lyons, this report

The Impact of Thriving at Work – Connecting The Dots Between Diversity and Inclusion

Blog Disability Mental Health news item Research & Reports Thriving at Work

  In June 2023, we said goodbye to our Thriving at Work (TAW) programme, a partnership programme which spanned more than two years and supported over eight hundred individuals in their journeys towards workplace wellbeing. Our partnership vision centred on creating more robust policies and practices surrounding diversity and inclusion, offered via a series of

Better Connections – Peer Support Session 3

Blog Meet the Team Mental Health news item RISE Wellbeing Resources

        On an icy January morning, a group of RISE partners braved the weather to meet in Selby for our third peer support meeting. Following on from the first two events, which focused mainly on open discussions amongst the keyworkers and intervention partners, we wanted to do something a little different for

Meet Ben, York Mind RISE Keyworker

Blog Meet the Team Mental Health news item RISE Wellbeing Resources

  Over the last few months, the RISE partnership welcomed keyworker Ben to York Mind, and he’s been keen to properly introduce himself to the partnership following our peer support networks and the rise of more cross-partner collaborations.  With  a diverse skill set, Ben has tried on a fair few hats in his career (including

Reflections, Resolutions, and a Happy New Year from Better Connect!

Action Towards Inclusion Blog Internal Meet the Team multiply news item RISE Thriving at Work

  Happy New Year from all of us here at Better Connect! Wondering what we’ve been up to over the last 365 days? With resolutions in full force, it’s only right that we share a few of our own after first recapping on some of our 2023 headliners, from programme closures to new launches, to

“If you find the courage to reach out to RISE I can only promise good things”- Michael’s journey on the RISE Project

Blog Mental Health news item RISE

Ever wondered what the RISE journey can look like for our participants across the programme? Today we’re sharing Michael’s experience of working with York Mind & Keyworker Ben, on everything from employability to mental health support.  Michael has come on leaps and bounds from his initial meeting with Ben, read his story in his own

West Yorkshire Rise2Thrive Launch – Did you miss it?

Blog news item RISE Thriving at Work

  On Thursday 7th December, we ran a virtual launch for our new partnership offering Rise2Thrive West Yorkshire. If you missed out, check out the video below for information about Better Connect, what we do and how we do it and our vision for Rise2Thrive. If you are interested in applying, click here If you

Transformation, Empowerment and Social Change: Real Impact across Yorkshire

Action Towards Inclusion Blog Internal news item RISE Thriving at Work

  The Better Connect team are excited to officially launch our Impact Report! Back in July our Impact Team began the process of collaborating with Research Retold on bringing the impact of our projects, alongside our brand and story to life! We’re delighted to share the finished product with you (click below) Transformation, empowerment and

Better Connect(ions) – Peer Support Meeting Two

Blog Mental Health news item RISE

  A couple of weeks ago, Better Connect hosted the second Peer Support meeting for the RISE partnership. Held at the Wesley Centre in Harrogate (a known community-hub) it was a great second opportunity for our partners to network, trouble-shoot, and engage in a group art therapy session. With the Peer Support tool still in

New UKSPF Partnership Opportunity in West Yorkshire.. Apply now!

Blog news item RISE Thriving at Work

  We will be running an online event on the 7th December @ 9.30 to talk about Rise2Thrive and meet potential delivery partners, want to come along? Book online here  It’s an exciting time as we start to see the People & Skills funding opportunities under UKSPF for Year 3 (April 2024- March 25), which

Former ATI Participant ‘Sign with Sarah-Jade’ wins New Business of The Year Award 2023!

Action Towards Inclusion Blog news item RISE

  Today we’re celebrating Sarah-Jade, one of our former participants on ATI who has just gone on to win York Mix Radio’s New Business of The Year 2023 with her business ‘Sign with Sarah-Jade’! Sarah is a British Sign Language (BSL) teacher, who teaches a range of classes from babies to adults in York and

Better Connections- Wellbeing for Keyworkers

Blog Meet the Team Mental Health news item RISE Thriving at Work Wellbeing Resources

  This week, we’ve shared several posts covering the impact of our former Thriving at Work programme in honour of International Happiness at Work Week, and today, we’re spotlighting our keyworkers & partners as we begin to focus more heavily on supporting their happiness at work. After several discussions about keyworker challenges, the team came

Rise 2 Thrive – New Partnership Opportunity for North Yorkshire

Action Towards Inclusion news item RISE Thriving at Work

  It’s an exciting time as we start to see the People & Skills funding opportunities under UKSPF for Year 3 (April 2024-25), which will be released by various Local Authorities in the coming weeks! After the success of our RISE and Thriving at Work programmes, Better Connect are excited to announce we will be

Our Multiply Team Updates!

Blog Internal Meet the Team multiply news item

  What have the team been up to? Our Multiply team have had an exciting few months managing Multiply and connecting with our wonderful partners. Formerly both part of our ATI team, Christine and Sophia have been keen to get stuck into a new venture and have a hand in making maths accessible. They’ve represented

Literacy Day- Our Team’s Favourite Books

Blog Internal Meet the Team multiply news item RISE Wellbeing Resources

  In a reading slump? In honour of International Literacy Day, today we’re sharing some of our favourite books with you from across the Better Connect Team! Literacy is an important part of life & learning globally. This year’s theme for Literacy Day is ‘Promoting literacy for a world in transition: Building the foundation for sustainable

International Overdose Awareness Day – Joe’s Story

Blog Internal Mental Health news item

        The 31st August 2023 is International Overdose Awareness Day. Today, we share a deeply personal story from one of our team at Better Connect. Joe sadly lost his sister due to a drug overdose last year and wants to share his story in hope that it raises awareness, educates and helps

ATI Participant Stories- Louise, Laura & Katrina

Action Towards Inclusion Blog Mental Health news item RISE

  Following the publication of our recent Action Towards Inclusion (ATI) stats, today we’re celebrating three incredible women who took part in the project. Several months back, we had the opportunity to visit one of our partner organisations, Kyra Women’s Project, and speak to three women who were supported by them on ATI. Louise, Katrina