A charity working to improve communities across Bradford has brought in two independent teams to review its work.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is nearing the end of a ten-year commitment to improving lives in the city.

Its work, which started in 2004 and ends next year, includes helping communities to tackle loneliness and supporting the next generation of young leaders. The foundation has asked the two teams to review the effectiveness of its work so far, and is due to publish the full report in July.

But it has disclosed that the findings include criticism that it should have been clearer about its purpose and role, better at communicating what it was doing and that it should have stuck with projects rather than moving on to new work. But the teams have praised the foundation for committing to Bradford for ten years, and giving a voice to previously unheard sections of the population. And they said it had been difficult for the foundation to be a ‘critical friend’ to the city, by balancing the need to challenge communities with the need to win their trust.

The foundation’s chief executive, Julia Unwin, said: “We are using these findings to inform our thinking about future work in Bradford beyond 2014 – a decision will be made by this autumn – as well as what these findings mean for how the Joseph Rowntree Foundation works generally.”

She said the foundation was also saying goodbye to its Bradford programme manager, Bana Gora.

She said: “I want to thank Bana Gora for her excellent and valued contribution, not least through her skilled and extensive networking and programme management, her innovation, creativity and commitment. The feedback from both the reviews about Bana’s personal contribution was very positive indeed. Her passion for Bradford has shone through all her work and I wish her well.” The foundation’s ongoing work include An Ageing Society, a two-year project working with community researchers, residents and other groups in Denholme and in Bradford Moor.