Welcome to our collaborative freelance charity and social purpose consultancy service Antworks Community based in West Yorkshire.
We are on a mission to provide high quality, value-based mentoring and practical support to individuals and organisations working to deliver social inclusion and social justice. We provide independent insight and encouragement to individuals and groups of people, at work or as volunteers, working for positive change for people and the environment. Check out our Services page for more examples of what we do.
Introducing Antworks Community founder Helen Jones
I’m an accidental community sector generalist, and now a freelance charity consultant based in West Yorkshire. After spending my 20s raising children whilst working casually in fields and factories, I needed to work differently and took a community development worker role which became a founder role very quickly. Since then I’ve followed a pathway through many roles in charity management and governance, including CEO, fundraiser, advisory panel member, partner and collaborator, researcher, grant maker, charity trustee and co author. My approach has been based on instinctive co production and commitment to inclusion, driven by social curiosity. For me, the ‘D’ in Diversity invokes discovery and delight. I believe social change happens when we work with our neighbours and colleagues to create the changes we need.
In 2023 I recognised that I wanted more freedom to support charities, CICs and CIOs connected to my own sense of community and urgency about our future on this planet. It was time for me to ‘go freelance’ and offer charity management support and mentoring across West Yorkshire, East Lancashire and online. The name Antworks Community reflects my fascination with the enormous cooperative power of these small creatures. I hope to help people to deliver change in how we face the future together. During the ups and downs of community organising and change work I know that sometimes you have to ‘fly by the seat of your pants’. I want to help you make sure your pants are made of Teflon!
Teflon pants sound fancy, eh? But they’re made from things like good planning and strategy, understanding your operating environment, ensuring good charity governance and best practice, managing people well, communicating effectively, and making the best use of available resources, tools and equipment. These are the practical foundations of charity funding readiness and trustee support.
Whether you’re an established charity CEO, a CIC founder, working in an established role, or at the beginning of a new project, you certainly need to be adaptable and quick to learn. As things develop the responsibilities grow too, but hopefully so does the opportunity to share tasks while refining the leadership and structure needed to sustain your vision. Most of all, I’ve found, it’s your emotional connection to the work that helps you keep adapting and learning new things. That’s why I offer individual mentoring, governance reviews and trustee support to charities and social purpose organisations who want to build on that connection, not lose it.
Freelance charity management consultancy 