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What’s on in Leeds at Christmas
Leeds Town Hall is all set to host an eclectic programme of live music, film screenings and family events this December to get you into the Christmas spirit! Musical highlights include a performance of Handel’s Messiah on 13th December by Leeds’ own Leeds Philharmonic Chorus, or why not settle for a gospel flavoured concert by Inspiration Choir and the Orchestra of Opera North the following day. Film crackers include the heartwarming ‘It's a Wonderful Life’, the 1988 Christmas-themed action movie ‘Die Hard’ and family favourites such as Home Alone, Elf and The Wizard of Oz. Another festive family highlight is the Frozen Sing-Along which is bound to be a huge hit with Leeds’ youth when staged on 22nd and 23rd December. Tickets for events at Leeds Town Hall are available from the Box Office on 0113 224 3801 or book online at www.leedstownhall.co.uk
Learning Award
A team who help young people with special needs and disabilities gain independence and confidence have received a top national industry award. The Children’s Transport Team at Leeds City Council won the ‘Learning Award’ at this year’s Children and Young People Now awards for their Independent Travel Training project which teaches young people with special needs the skills and confidence to use public transport. Members of the team attended a black-tie awards ceremony in London to collect their award. Councillor Judith Blake, executive board member responsible for children and families said: “This award is fantastic recognition for the hard work of the children’s transport team. “They have helped so many young people with additional needs to gain self-confidence and independence, and ultimately change their lives for the better.”
‘Welcome Home’ Residents return to carnival atmosphere after shock fire
By Ashley Grint ashley@asianexpress.co.uk
Bollywood dancers and the sound of African drums greeted residents at an extra care housing development in Bradford earlier this week, as a celebration was held to mark the official reopening of the site. Young-at-heart residents from Dove Court, managed by Hanover Housing Association, were joined by enthusiastic staff members as they limbered up at a joint Christmas Carnival-come-welcome home party. In June of this year, an electrical blaze broke out at the Undercliffe development, forcing residents out of their accommodation for months whilst renovation works were carried out. Although the building’s robust fire safety procedures and design stopped the fire from spreading, it suffered significant flood and water damage from the fire services’ attempts to put out the blaze. After months of detailed renovation work, which included the redecoration of all communal areas and replacing lounge furniture, residents then moved back to the estate. Amongst the residents at the celebration event was Mr Isharwal Lal Mistry, who moved back in to to the estate during the second week of October. Suffering from severe visual impairment, Mr Mistry was staying at Shakespeare Court whilst he waited for the refurbishment work to be completed and said it was
‘great to be home’. Extra care housing manager, Jaz Samplay, added: “Despite his visual impairment, Mr Mistry is very independent and so it was important to get him back into Dove Court as soon as possible and back into his routine. “He has been here since August 2007 and this is the home that he knows.” Tom Brown, director of extra care and services, described the day of the blaze and how it was imperative to ensure residents, such as Mr Mistry, returned to the development at the earliest time possible. “The day of the fire, I was in London and it was a couple of minutes after 9am that I got a phone call saying Dove Court is on fire,” Mr Brown said. “I didn’t know to what extent this was at first but it soon became clear that it was serious as I started receiving more phone calls. “Our immediate response was to help re-home residents whilst renovation work is done and with the help of Bradford’s social housing team, everybody was catered for in the best way possible. “It was hard for residents and staff but we made sure we got all the work completed in record time and achieved our goal of bringing residents back home before Christmas.” One group of entertainers who were on hand to help make the celebration have a truly ‘Bollywood-feel’ was the Punjabi Roots Academy. Navraj Gill, acting manager of the group, said the dancers could
More council budget cuts
The Leader of Leeds City Council has warned of ‘grim’ decisions needing to be taken as budget proposals to tackle a further £46.7million reduction in government funding and £76.1m savings overall were released today. The council has already seen its levels of core funding from government reduced by £129m over the last four years, and an estimated further reduction of £74m over the next two financial years will mean by 2017 grant funding for Leeds will have been cut by over 45 per cent overall in less than seven years. The core grant funding reduction for Leeds for next year represents a 14.9 per cent decrease from this year, higher than the national average of 13.1 per cent and continuing the trend which has seen councils in the north hit by larger reductions than those in the south east with the authorities in the Leeds City Region being given a combined £470m less since 2010.
December 2014 - 2nd Edition
CELEBRATION: A Bollywood-themed event was held at Dove Court earlier this week with dance group, Punjabi Roots, on hand to provide some entertainment
BLAZE: An electrical fire forced residents out of their homes earlier this year with months of renovation work needed before people could move back in
not have wished for a better audience and felt privileged to have been invited to help celebrate the important occasion. “Although we do a lot of work in the community, this is the first time
DANCE: Residents joined in with the dancing and entertainment on offer throughout the day
I have been to one of these extra care housing estates,” he said. “I have to say, we could not have got a better crowd. Residents were joining in with the dances and everything went really, really well.”