'˜Giving is a two-way process... it's about sharing that feeling'

Little surprise, then, that Sally-Anne Greenfield plans to write no fewer than two after stepping down as chief executive of Leeds Community Foundation (LCF) after 13 years.

Achievable, surely, for the woman who has taken the organisation from “nothing”, setting it up in her Yeadon home in 2004, to a force that has distributed more than £33m in grants to some of the city’s most worthy causes.

LCF works with individuals and organisations who want to give to community groups and raises money from philanthropists which is distributed to grass roots projects across the area.

After Leeds City Council set up the foundation as a steering group in 2002, with help from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Yorkshire Forward, Cumbria-born Mrs Greenfield was appointed following a number of fundraising roles.

Speaking about those, she said: “As soon as I would raise the money, I would lose my job.

“That’s probably the most rewarding aspect [about LCF] – going into the community and seeing the work groups are doing because we founded them.”

And even small sums can do the trick. A £350 grant to the Wednesday Luncheon Club elderly group, which needed cash in 2011 to buy a sink to wash plates and cutlery so that it could carry on its work, was one of the most inspiring stories Mrs Greenfield can remember.

She said: “Quite small amounts of money, given to the right