South Leeds Life 03 jan 15

Your FREE community newspaper

Issue 3 | January 2015

What’s happening in Beeston, Belle Isle, Cottingley, Holbeck, Hunslet, Middleton & Stourton

Developers show plans for ‘South Bank’ Potential developers behind billion pound plans for a 'world trade centre' in parts of old Hunslet are promising lots of new jobs for South Leeds residents.

The ‘One Leeds‘ proposal includes building a state-of-the-art World Trade Center exhibition and conference centre, up to 1,000 apartments, 1million sq ft of office space, 3,000 car parking spaces plus hotels, cafes, restaurants and shops. And there are also plans for a park and an “urban ecosettlement”.

One Leeds Plc was responding to a recent editorial in South Leeds Life which called on them to fully engage with residents and businesses in Hunslet and Holbeck before submitting any plans for the former industrial heartland.

Adam Sims, CEO of One Leeds Plc, told South Leeds Life that his company's proposals were still at an early stage but that he was already looking at a percentage of the 1,000 estate jobs going to South Leeds residents. Mr Sims said: "We do want to support South Leeds through jobs and through good links from our development into Hunslet and beyond."

One possible idea for the site is for a microbrewery to be built, honouring the legacy of Tetley in the area. Mr Sims said he'd be keen to get former Tetley workers - many of them from South Leeds - involved.

He said more formal consultation with local residents would come 'in due course' but was keen to hear SLL readers' views to help shape

In this issue:

Children visit new homes

page 4

Reflections ten years on from London bombs

page 5

Focus on Beeston Hill

pages 6 & 7

the project. He added: "We want to create a space where people come and say 'wow'. We want to create the number one leisure destination in the region.

"We're planning a five-acre family park with giant waterfalls and huge marble floors, an amazing space for the city. Some people think it will be a wonderful resource, but others have said that if people want to see green space they can get into their car and drive to the countryside.

"We think the city needs a new park but we want to know what everyone thinks about it."

The sites are within an area surrounded by Crown Point, Meadow Lane and Brewery Wharf and Hunslet to the north and south.

Work will start on site by 2017 finishing 'by the end of the decade'.

What do you think of the plans? What would you like to see built there? What should South Leeds get out of such a major development? Would you like to see a park and a microbrewery?

You can read a longer version of this article online at www.southleedslife.com/developersoutline-plans-south-bank/

Get the latest news at www.southleedslife.com - new stories posted daily

Hawks prepare to fly

page 12

NEWS

OPINION

YOUR!STORY

p2-4 p8

p9

WHAT’S!ON

p10

SPORT!

p12

LOCAL!HISTORYp11

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South Leeds Life | January 2015

2 News

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About us South Leeds Life is written by and for local people. People who live and work in the LS10 and LS11 areas of South Leeds.

The blog and newspaper are produced by the South Leeds Life Group, a constituted community group with elected officers.

Our aims are: To inform people of events, activities, issues and opportunities taking place in the South Leeds community; To encourage the involvement of the wider community in communicating their experiences; To foster community spirit and involvement; and To provide a platform for local people to contribute and respond to community life more fully.

South Leeds Life started as a blog in November 2010 and still posts news every day at: www.southleedslife.com

Contact us Email: info@southleedslife.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/ southleedslife Twitter: @SouthLeedsLife Phone: 07894 583966 We would love to hear from you!

MP’s thoughts for the new year

by Hilary Benn MP The end of a year is when we tend to look back over what's happened and forward to what lies ahead.

Among the friends we sadly lost in 2014 were Steve Williamson - so full of energy - and John Hodgson who was a Labour and union man to his fingertips. The big event of the year was, without doubt, the Tour de France which brought out the crowds and sent out a message about Leeds' spirit and confidence (something the South Leeds festivals, galas and fairs have been doing, in their own way, for years).

The most sobering development of the year?

The growth of food banks as more and more people find themselves having to ask someone they've never met before for food because they can't provide for their family. And, of course, the drama at Leeds United just seemed to carry on.

And as for next year? Well there's the small matter of the general election in May, and then July will mark the tenth anniversary of the London bombings. What an awful day that was. I was at a Cabinet meeting in Downing Street when it became clear that something was going on. It was only when the meeting broke up and I walked into the room next door looking for a television that I saw the picture of a London bus with its roof blown off and realised what had happened. Little did any of us know at that moment how South Leeds would be drawn into

this terrible tragedy.

And then, a few days later, came the news about the identities of the bombers. Three of them had close links to Beeston and Holbeck, including Mohammad Sidique Khan who had worked at a local primary school. Roads were sealed off, homes searched and the world's media descended on a community that was in shock.And all the while, people asked each other "How? Why?" Moments like this bring out the character, the heart, of a community, and the way the communities of South Leeds responded was nothing short of magnificent. We held together in the face of media intrusion and a crude attempt by the far right to stir up trouble (nipped in the bud by the police). But most of all we wanted to tell the world that that the places in Leeds that were filling the news bulletinsepresented the very opposite of the hatred that had led to the bombings. And so the marches, and the gatherings and the coach full of people that travelled to London to lay flowers at Kings Cross - that was a special moment were all expressions of our determination not to be divided by what had happened.

And I suppose that's the inspiration for my new year's resolution. Cast aside cynicism, stop blaming others and get stuck in to helping one another. That's what so many people and organisations do in South Leeds, and they represent the best of the human spirit.

Happy New Year.

Turn to page 5 for more reflections on the tenth anniversary of the London bombings.

South Leeds Academy is improving

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Academy described as failing 18 months ago is removed from Ofsted’s serious weaknesses category.

The South Leeds Academy, once described by the government as failing to provide an adequate education for its students, is celebrating after being removed from the serious weaknesses category following a visit by Ofsted inspectors in November. They also

described the quality of sixth form provision as good.

The inspectors spent two days at the Academy, observing over 40 lessons and speaking with students, staff and Governors.

Standards were found to be improving in all areas, with a number of aspects of Academy life described as good, a cohesive atmosphere evident and behaviour in the academy significantly

improved.

Leadership at the Academy was described as taking ‘effective steps to improve teaching’ and the academy’s work to keep students safe and secure as good. The Governing body were singled out for being effective and contributing to the improvement in student experiences in classrooms and in achievement outcomes.

The Academy sixth form, where almost 70% of students go on to study at University, was praised.

Inspectors reported that: “The quality of teaching has improved and is now good.

Expectations of what students can achieve are high. They are challenged to achieve their best.

This is reflected in students’ positive attitudes to learning and good behaviour.”

The inspectors outlined a number of areas in which the school could improve to reach the

next level of ‘good’. This included developing the questioning skills of staff and focusing on Literacy levels.

Newly appointed Principal Marc Doyle said: “I am very proud of the inspection report and the progress that the Academy has made in securing a momentous judgement in our continuing ‘ladder of improvement’’ “The staff, students and governors of TSLA are very happy with the outcome of the inspection, which is a culmination of a tremendous amount of hard work and effort , but we will not stop until we secure an outstanding judgement for everyone associated with the Academy.”

The full report can be downloaded from the Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspectionreports/find-inspection-report/provi der/ELS/135969

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South Leeds Life | January 2015

News 3

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Community Committee approves project funding The Inner South Community Committee met on 26 November at Leeds Civic Hall.

The first half of the meeting was a workshop discussion about the Families First programme, focussing on employment, crime and anti-social behaviour and support for families in turn. A recurring theme was the need for better information and communication about services that are available.

A group of young people in our group brought up concerns about the Cottingley skate park suffering from broken glass and flooding. They are also looking forward to the proposed sports court as people currently play football against the wall of the community centre, interrupting their homework club. Issues were also raised about fencing being stolen for bonfire night and speeding cars. Inspector Chris Bowen said community groups could borrow speed indicating device.

There was feedback from the previous workshop on domestic violence that key issues such as inter-generational violence had been fed into the new city-wide strategy.

In the formal meeting following the workshop councillors agreed to make a number of grants from the Well Being Budget including: £26,389 to The Hunslet Club to run a further after school vocational training programme for young people in Years 10-12. £3,000 to Holbeck In Bloom towards a City Walk scheme to promote a safe route to the city centre including finger posts and litter bins. £5,000 to Health For All to undertaker a feasibility study on converting the multi use games area at Holbeck Community Centre into a sports hall. £1,000 to LCC Parks & Countryside towards providing a skate park next to Middleton Community Centre on Acre Road.

South Leeds Life will report in more detail on all these projects as they develop.

Cllr Kim Groves, local champion for employment and skills, reported that the apprenticeship event at John Charles Centre was a great success with over 250 young people attending and 23 employers present. The Point jobshop at the White Rose Councillors present cheque to Centre has helped 350 people Andrea Edwards from The Hunslet Club back into work in the last year.

The Christmas jobs fair was attended by 750 applicants’ CVs were not good enough. More people and at least half of the 100 available work on this is to be targeted at high schools.

Employment and skills will be the subject of positions went to local people. National employers such as Marks & Spencer and the next workshop discussion when the Debenhams they were keen to work with The Community Committee meets on Wednesday Point again in the future, but fed back that many 11 February, at 5:30pm at Leeds Civic Hall..

Bulb bonanza brightens Cottingley Hall estate Cottingley In Bloom recently planted 3,400 daffodil bulbs as part of Groundwork Leeds’ Bulb Bonanza.

On Monday 24 November, green-fingered students from Cottingley Primary Academy along with local residents, and the group members, were out in force planting across the estate. For the first time ever, they were joined by staff from Costa Coffee, who gave up their time and donned their wellies, in a bid to make Cottingley bloom. The event is part of a larger project, Urban Oasis that is funded by Mears.

The aim is to improve several areas around the estate in readiness for entry into Yorkshire in Bloom in the spring 2015.

Nicola Ramsden, Community Co-ordinator at Groundwork Leeds, said: “Bulb Bonanza is a key event for us each year. The funding we receive from Leeds City Council and individual donations allows us to add a touch of vibrancy to Leeds landscapes, which in turn has an extremely positive effect on the local residents. With the help of Costa Coffee staff, we’re delighted to be able to turn the Cottingley planting day into a fun activity. It’s great

that the coffee chain sees the significance of this event for the residents and it’s a real honour that they’re giving up their time to take part.”

Councillor Mark Dobson, Leeds City Council’s executive member for cleaner, safer and stronger communities said: “We are delighted to provide funding towards the Bulb Bonanza project by Groundwork Leeds, which is a really fantastic way of adding real colour to communities’ right across the city.”

Staff from Mears Leeds dug trenches for local school children to plant the bulbs.

Groundwork staff spoke to children about planting, after which each child planted a bulb.

Councillor Angela Gabriel presented operative Chris Whiteley with a Mears Smile Award for his consistent hard work in this ongoing project stating that he is a credit to Mears.

The next meeting of Cottingley In Bloom will be on 9 February, 1:30pm at Cottingley Heights Community Room.

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South Leeds Life | January 2015

4 News

News in brief Allotments win chocolate funds Whitehouse Farm Allotments, in Hunslet, is celebrating after receiving a £300 donation from the Galaxy Hot Chocolate Fund.

The community allotment has 50 plots and 100 members who grow their own fruit and vegetables.The group also runs an education project for local schools, where volunteers teach about the benefits of growing their own produce.

Jema Leadill, secretary says: “This donation from the Galaxy Hot Chocolate Fund couldn’t have come at a better time. We are hoping to run a group for vulnerable adults and families. However, in order to do so we will need to build a disabled toilet.

“This donation will help in reaching our fundraising target so we can teach more people to grow their own produce.”

New charity shop for Middleton St Luke’s CARES has opened its third community charity shop on Throstle Lane in Middleton.

St Lukes Shop MiddletonThe shop offers excellent bargains and helps to recycle quality second hand goods, including clothing, household goods, toys, books, accessories and other items. Proceeds from the shop help to fund the work of the charity which supports young people throughout South Leeds, as well St Cross Middleton and its youth clubs.

The shop welcomes all kinds of donations which can be brought directly to the shop, or contact the collections team on 07800 512074 for a free collection.They also carry out house clearances for free.

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Hands up for Harding Villas!

by Lucy Potter It was five years ago when I watched the old Brown Lane East ‘back to backs’ being bulldozed to the ground.

Rubble, dust and memories from the past formulated and hung the air. After a short space of time the empty land was filled with beautiful wild flowers planted by Holbeck in Bloom. Now, standing in the space are the brand new Harding Villas, named so by the children of the local Ingram Road Primary School.

Today (19 December 2014) contractors Keepmoat and Unity housing presented their first public viewing in the new show house. I joined ward councilors Angela Gabriel and Adam Ogilvie local community members Dennis Kitchen, Ian Pickup, along with some year 3 children from the primary school for a peek inside. As I stepped in from the blustery weather I was greeted by lots of faces and excited chatting, and the heating is on, it’s a fully functioning house! We gather in the newly fitted kitchen, plastic sheeting still covering units and floors. The light streamed through the windows making this show home bright and welcoming.

Project Assistant Melissa Gallimore (Keepmoat) separated the children into two groups and took them on a tour of the property.The children equipped with hard hats and high visibility jackets, formed an orderly line in the soon to be front room. Considering the anticipation of the tour and their new

environment they contain their excitement incredibly well.

Continuing their learning out of the classroom, they are handed a pen and paper and asked memory questions: ‘Who knows what the colour of the front door is?’ Excited hands reach into the air.They spend the rest of the time going round importantly filling in their exercise sheets resting their paper on whatever worktops and panels are available.

Regeneration Director Wayne Noteman (Unity

Homes) says this is a significant day for the children from Ingram Road, as they have been involved with the development from the start.They’ve seen the land being prepared, they have helped name the houses, and now they are invited to see what the houses look like inside, completing the building cycle.

Unity Homes and Keepmoat will also be hosting a ‘meet your neighbour event’ for Harding Villas at Holbeck Working Men’s Club on Saturday 10 January 2015.

Local company helps New salon is Quintessential West Hunslet small business Salvation Army

Over the last year local marketing company Catalina Leeds have helped the Salvation Army in Leeds West Hunslet with food, baby items and household and other cleaning materials.

The Corps have given these out as part of their ongoing help to struggling families in the Beeston and Holbeck area of Leeds.

The team at Catalina then asked if there was anyway else they could help at Leeds West Hunslet. After some thought it was decided that internal decorations were needed at the Hall. So recently two teams painted and decorated several rooms inside the hall, something that was badly needed.

Captains Andrew and Jackie Jarrold who lead the Corps said:

“Claire, Vikki and the rest of the team at Catalina Leeds have been fantastic and the help they have given the Salvation Army has been vital to enable us to help serve the needs of the many people we see coming to us when they have nowhere else to turn.”

Hunslet’s newest hair salon received a visit from Hilary Benn MP on Small Business Saturday (6 December 2014).

Quintessential, on Church Street has been open just five days, after local business women Dawn Picken and Annabel Walsh. Quintessential complements Dawn’s other salon in the Penny Hill Centre meeting the needs of a different clientele.

Hilary Benn MP said: “This is exactly what

Small Business Saturday is about. Supporting local people and local businesses.”

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South Leeds Life | January 2015

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Analysis 5

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A traumatic and stressful time Hanif Malik, Chief of the Executive Hamara Centre reflects that it was a very traumatic and stressful time.The initial response when it became clear the bombers were linked to Beeston was one of shock.

“Beeston is an ordinary inner city locality. We were focussed on regeneration, jobs and housing.”

“The community response was fantastic, people showed real solidarity.The legacy of that coming together is to stop long term damage to the community.”

He was surprised at how long it affected the organisation. There were investigations and the organisation was infiltrated by undercover reporters.

They had to speak up for the

Truth and

reconcilliation

Rev Lindsey Pearson is the Vicar of Beeston.

“The media frenzy was most destructive. It didn’t feel fair what was being said about us. We knew that wasn’t where most people in Leeds or in Beeston were.”

Ten years on and fears about Muslims still surface, for example in the debate around the Aspiring Communities project.

“Some people feel let down or betrayed. They welcomed Muslim people in the community, chatted in the shops and then some of them turned out to be bombers. That’s very difficult. I think we need something like a Truth and Reconciliation process as they did in South Africa and Rwanda. People came through those horrors and now live and work together again.

“If we don’t rise above this then we’ve failed for ourselves and future generations.”

“Beeston is still changing, we now have a large Eastern European population. We need to be better at engaging with new people coming into our community. We have to ask ourselves: What sort of society do we want to live in and what responsibility do we take to make that happen?”

Lindsey went on to talk about the economy. It’s said to be improving, but she’s not sure it is in Beeston.

The cuts agenda is damaging and it is “ridiculous” that people work for less than a living wage. She doesn’t apologise for raising these issues, “You can’t avoid the wider political questions, it does impact on how you feel towards your neighbour.”

community and co-operate with the authorities.

This went on for three years.

“The sad aspect is that the locality will forever be associated with those tragic events.”

He sees positives in the way third sector organisations came together in the aftermath, but worries that they didn’t build on it as much as they could have.

“Beeston Festival is absolutely great on the day, the whole community comes together. But we haven’t managed to bottle the formula to use for the rest of the year.”

“I’m concerned because Beeston and the whole of Leeds suffered reputational damage as a result of 7/7. So I think we need a city response to mark the tenth anniversary and show our empathy with the victims.”

Closer to the community

Inspector Chris Bowen heads up the Inner South Neighbourhood Policing Team. He worked in Beeston until 2002 and returned in 2013. A lot has changed in those years: “The crime rate has reduced significantly across the board, especially house burglary, but car crime and anti-social behaviour too.” He says. “Hate incidents are down, despite them being easier to report today, but tensions still rise depending what’s going on in the world – say in Gaza, or an EDL march.”

The police meet with local religious and community leaders on a regular basis to discuss issues of concern.

Asked about Prevent, he explains that it’s about preventing radicalisation by raising awareness amongst the community of the signs, building relationships so that people are comfortable to raise concerns with the police.

The programme pays for two dedicated PCs – Geeta Lota and Gary Blezard “Neighbourhood Policing has brought us closer to the community. We would like to do even more but we have limited resources. We want to play an active part in the community. We will always try to attend events when we are invited and we get invited more and more.”

Could the London Bombings happen again?

“The chances are very low, but it’s not impossible. It is much more likely that we would stop them today.

“There’s nothing special about Beeston. It happened to be four lads from Beeston in 2005, but they could have been from Bradford or Birmingham.”

Beeston: ten years on from 7/7 2015 brings the tenth anniversary of the horrific London bombings. Three of the 7/7 bombers were linked to Beeston and Holbeck and so South Leeds Life asked a number of local figures to reflect on the events and the decade since. We print extracts of those personal reflections here, you can read the full articles online at www.southleedslife.com.

Sportsman Colin Jackson joins Gill Hicks (R), Muserat Sujewal and other locals on the WALKTALK march through Beeston Ed Carlisle lives in Beeston and works for Together For Peace amongst other projects.

After the smoke settled from 7/7, there was a bit of an upsurge locally towards people trying to build a better connected community: inter-faith gatherings, youth programmes, and much more.

I became involved during 2008 in the unexpectedly positive WALKTALK project, featuring Gill Hicks – a survivor of the London bombings – walking on her prosthetic legs from Leeds, through Beeston, to London.

Meanwhile, Beeston continues to face many challenges – those of any low-income, inner-city community. Yet I think there’s an unusually strong local pride here, and lots of good stuff going on.

There are lots of enduring local organisations (including schools) and projects that year-round bring people together and create positive opportunities for the community.

And most importantly, it’s relationships that really make the difference. Any community is essentially just a bunch of people. So the more inter-connected people are, the stronger they are, and better able to withstand external forces – be it destructive cultural movements (including extremism in any shape or form), an international media invasion, government intervention, or lack of it.

Cllr Adam Ogilvie, who represents Beeston and Holbeck ward, remembers it was surreal to have the world’s media camped on our doorseteps.

“As councillors we tried to act as spokespeople so that residents didn’t have to during such a difficult time.”

He feels much of the media had its own agenda.

The nationals weren’t interested in the community, whereas the Yorkshire Evening Post knew they had to live with us.

“People have got on with their lives since then.There’s a remarkable vibrancy of

local organisations trying to make this a better place to live. There’s been a determination to get on with things. We could have fallen apart as a community, but we didn’t.”

He’s noticed that since 2005 a younger generation has come to take leadership roles, particularly in the Pakistani organisations. He feels it has made them less insular and keener to work together with other organisations.

“Every community needs to recognise that it takes two to tango.We all need to let down our barriers and get to know people from backgrounds. Then we can all move forward.”

“There’s so much good work. We need to tell the story and join up the dots.”

Meaning of Islam

What really struck me about the events in July 2005 was seeing people – the community – distance themselves from one another.

Writes Mahboob Nazir.

Neighbours who you’d had really positive relationship with – people who were used to looking out for one another – suddenly became wary. People weren’t sure who was who, nor who to trust.

Within the Muslim community, there was just a big sense of shock.

People weren’t sure what had happened. These were decent, lawabiding people who had come and settled in this country, or many who were born and bred here, who’d contributed to society, were proud to be British and part of the culture.

Then all of a sudden, fingers were being pointed, blaming them – us – for what had happened.

For me, I’ve always had a faith, but the events of 2005 really prompted me to learn more about my religion.

From all I’d previously gathered from my parents and community, and from all I’ve learnt since then, it’s totally evident to me that all these events – murders and so on – are not a true reflection of Islam, nor are groups like IS representatives for me. It’s political, it’s all about power – and it divides regular people, and it weakens us.

So since 2005, I’ve tried to represent my faith in the wider community. I’ve instead tried to put my faith into practice. I’ve especially become committed to building and strengthening relationships in the community. Through events like hosting a Christmas meal at the mosque, people have been able to share, talk, learn together.

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6 Focus on Beeston Hill

First tenants move into new homes

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Focus on Beeston Hill 7

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Hurrah for Hamara!

Asha generations mark another year

Lucy Potter reports from Hamara’s annual Community Awards ceremony

The first council houses completed under the PFIfunded housing regeneration scheme have been let to tenants.

Leeds City Council leader Councillor Keith Wakefield had the honour this month of meeting a number of tenants at their new homes, which are located in Beeston Hill.

Overall, the council plans to build 1,000 new council homes across the city by 2018/19, with 275 of these properties being built in Beeston Hill and Holbeck.

As well as the new houses, 383 homes in the area are being refurbished to revitalise the communities as part of the housing regeneration project.

Councillor Keith Wakefield, leader of Leeds City Council, said: “Being able to present tenants with the keys to their brand new council home has given me a real sense of pride in what we’ve been able to achieve on their behalf.

“This is not just about bricks and mortar; by investing in council housing on this scale we are improving the quality of life for residents who move into these homes and helping them create a community they can be proud to live in.”

Health Visitors hand out hampers

Health Visitors from Parkside Community Health Centre delivered Christmas hampers to 100 South Leeds families in need.

The hampers are organised by local charity Fayre Share At Christmas, run by Beeston resident Christine Thornton. Funds are raised by the Health Visitors throughout the year including raffles and bric-a-brac stalls.

This year the charity has also been awarded grants by the Community First panels for Beeston & Holbeck and City & Hunslet.

This is the fourteenth year that Christine has organised hampers.

“It started with two of us, but now the whole team is involved” she explained. “This can be a very difficult time of year for families, especially if money is tight. Our hampers make sure that they at least get a good Christmas dinner.”

Families in need are identified by the Health Visitors and each receive a hamper including a frozen chicken, fresh vegetables and dry goods.

Sport 4 Life activities

Thanks to being a community reporter for South Leeds Life, I had the fantastic opportunity to experience my first Hamara Community Awards in Bradford on Thursday 4 December.

Everyone who had been involved with Hamara in the last year and before came to celebrate the event in the Aagrah banqueting hall. The room was light from floor to ceiling in a warm red glow and glasses sparkled on revolving centre table pieces. Guests congregated in reception bejeweled in glamorous dresses, drinking fruit punch and eating canapes.

I had come with committee member and friend, Noor.

We both looked at each other and agreed we were slightly under dressed in our smart yet casual attire.

“It’s about celebrating the unsung heroes and volunteers that make things happen in the community.”

The chair, Mohammed Farouk, welcomed us to the 5th Annual ceremony before handing over to the master of ceremonies Hanif Malik (CEO). Hanif guided us through the whole evening from guest speaker, to service user, to award winners. For a small charity which started only ten years ago, Hamara Healthy Living Centre in Beeston has grown to be one of the largest ethnic minority organisations in the voluntary and community sector in Leeds.

Hamara provides community multi-generational programs for a diverse range of people.The charity’s centre is based in South Leeds, but spreads its net further afield through effective community networking, helping to join up services city wide. All the sponsors, funders and supporters came up first to be acknowledged and took a bow.

Habib Khan (Manager) says “The awards started five years ago, and it’s mainly about celebrating the unsung heroes and volunteers that make things happen in the community. It’s very emotional and takes a lot out of us, but it’s rewarding too.”

The program of the evening was punctuated by courses of delicious food. Before starters we saw two speakers from West Yorkshire Police. They arrived just in time to be introduced, then jokingly labelled themselves as ‘Batman and Robin’.The police stressed the importance of working with a charity like Hamara in helping to maintain an essence of neighbourhood policing.Muslin Hussain There was an element of surprise to the evening, Youth Worker, Shanaz introduced us to Muslin Hussain, an 18 year old local cricket player. He spent ten years attending and volunteering on Youth Projects at Hamara, and now represents Yorkshire Academy in the England Under 19’s cricket team. He will be touring Dubai and Australia for the Ashes in March 2015. He says it was his time at Hamara that gave him the confidence and support he needed to work towards his sporting goal.

After the starters of Fish Masala, Lamb Chops and Channa Masala we experienced the official launch of ‘Sports 4 Life’ hosted by Community Sports worker Zoe Irish. She was joined on stage by two exercise bikes (installed in the break) and hooked up to screens. These were tested by two willing participants: Ikram Butt (ex rugby player) and Starr Zaman. The pair added comic value to the night by competing with each other on a 5 lap course. Despite the ‘nerves’ Zoe did a very professional job, including encouraging the successes of service users and treating us to motivational videos to believe in ourselves.

One lady in particular, Robina, gave her presentation of how she had lost weight in the gym at the centre. She now promotes a walking group in the neighbourhood.

Underselling herself Zoe reiterated her as an inspiration to others. This is shows how much everyone is valued and respected at the centre.

Before mains were served, Chicken Masala, Daal Tarka Lal Mas and Pilau Rice, we were treated to a montage video. This was of past winners of the awards who were also in the room. The Vangelis Chariots of Fire Soundtrack help to build up the collective emotion.

Women’s Achievement Award went to Bethany Hare, Bethany has raised £80,000 since she was 10 years old to help charities Martins House Hospice, Children Heart Surgery Fund, Give a Gift and various other children’s charities. After being inspired from reading stories written by terminally ill children. She sings for her charity Bethany

Smile and treated us to ‘Something Inside So Strong’ to finish the evening on a high note.

Community Organisation of the Year went to the Joanna Project. A women’s organisation who works with street workers offering advice and support. Success stories of rehabilitation go towards strengthening the work they do in the community.

Service to the Community went to ‘Pride of Britain Award 2011′ and local hero Yvonne Crowther. This is for all the youth work she has done in Beeston with helping to support and empower young people by running her Cafe Me’N’U.

Special Initiative Award went to Martin House Hospice.

Lifetime Achievement Award went to Harban Singh Sagoo a champion of the city’s Sikh community. He was welcomed to the stage with a standing ovation.

Before the last award Young Persons Award was announced we watched a clip from a recent ‘Educating Yorkshire’ video. I thought that this was another break, but the whole audience was surprised to see the boy filmed being helped to overcome his stammer through listening to music was with us and there to collect his award.

Musharaf Asghar came to accept his award to whoops and whistles!

I asked Hanif Malik how he felt at the end of the evening.

He said he felt “Exhilarated! It was fantastic reflection on the past year and really captured the spirit of Hamara.”

Thanks to everyone who made this such a success. I can’t wait for next year’s, at least I’ve got a bit of time to figure out what I’m going to wear!

The Sport4Life project is offering a variety of activities, held at different times of the week to make sure we offer everyone in the community the chance to take part in activities, starting with: Every Monday 11am – 12pm at Hamara we have a zumba vs aerobics class WOMEN ONLY Every Thursday 11:30am–2.30pm from Hamara to John Charles Centre for Sport walking and swimming group. (Meet at Hamara at 11:30, walk to John Charles, swim or have a cup of tea, walk back to Hamara) MEN ONLY Every Saturday 10–11am Cross Flatts Park running group (Meet at Hamara, over to Cross Flatts Park, back to Hamara) All abilities welcome, simply just turn up and it’s FREE! More activities such as tennis, cycling, cricket, family fun sessions will be added over the coming months.

Giving community safety a Sporting Chance The Hamara Healthy Living Centre in Beeston, under its ‘Sporting Chance’ banner, hosted a Community Safety Event in November.

The aim of the event was to promote services and raise awareness around various crimes and the effects of these. The event was targetted at young people, but also atttracted people from the whole community.

Sporting Chance is delivered in partnership with Leeds United and works with young people who are at risk and young people who are

ex-offenders, the Police and community groups to understand the impact of anti-social behaviour and crime. Community leaders, residents, victims of crime are given a platform to speak and encouraged to share their experiences of the effects of crime and fear on the local community.

A range of partner agencies delivered diverse activities around the following themes: * Effects of crime on the community * Child Sexual Exploitation / Grooming

* Hate Crime (two projects looking at Islamophobia and Disability Hate Crime) * Crime Reduction and antisocial behaviour * The Prevent / Radicalisation agenda * Domestic Violence * Substance misuse – the effects of drugs and alcohol on the community * Financial lending- Door stop.

Interactive workshops included graffiti workshops, DJ workshops, and vox popping.

Beeston’s Asha Neighbourhood Project celebrated another year of work with women and children at their recent Annual General Meeting.

The Building Blocks meeting room was packed with women of different generations and backgrounds. Now in its 29th year the centre which was originally set up to support Baangladeshi women works with all women in the community.

Different strands of Asha’s work were highlighted including the childcare and playschemes; the advice service which supported 213 women last year and the health project which helped 146 women.

Since 2011 Asha has been running a gardening project.

Fifty starter packs containing seeds, compost and pots have been handed out to women to help then start to grow vegetables in their own gardens.

Asha has been funded by the People's Health Trust to run a two year project recruiting local Bangladeshi women as volunteers, providing them with training and support so that they, in turn can provide support and help to those women in their local community who need it.

The Prerona Project has already seen women attending a development day at Leeds University and the older persons befriending service is now underway. One woman explained to the meeting how volunteering with the project had helped her to get a job.

A founder member of Asha summed up the spirit of the meeting when she said “It’s great to see different generations using Asha’s services. It’s all about women helping women, just like it’s always been.”

Peace-ing together a new tapestry

Women from different faiths and ethnic backgrounds are to join forces to create a new tapestry or banner that celebrates Leeds’ heritage.

The multi-cultural textile project will see women coming together to share skills, stories, food and friendship.

Workshops will run across the city including five sessions at venues in Beeston.

The organisation behind the project is Concord, the Leeds multi faith group. The textile project is part of an effort to relaunch the group’s women’s section and will mark Concord’s 40th anniversary in 2016.

The first workshops in January will run at the Hamara Centre on Thursday 8 and 22 January from 10am to 12pm. Further workshops will run in March.

For more information contact Jenny on (0113) 266 4532, email: jpatonwilliams@gmail.com or Cynthia concordwomen@phonecoop.coop.

www.southleedslife.com

6 Focus on Beeston Hill

First tenants move into new homes

Twitter: @SouthLeedsLife

South Leeds Life | January 2015

January 2015 | South Leeds Life

Facebook: facebook.com/southleedslife

Website: www.southleedslife.com

www.southleedslife.com

Focus on Beeston Hill 7

Email: info@southleedslife.com

Hurrah for Hamara!

Asha generations mark another year

Lucy Potter reports from Hamara’s annual Community Awards ceremony

The first council houses completed under the PFIfunded housing regeneration scheme have been let to tenants.

Leeds City Council leader Councillor Keith Wakefield had the honour this month of meeting a number of tenants at their new homes, which are located in Beeston Hill.

Overall, the council plans to build 1,000 new council homes across the city by 2018/19, with 275 of these properties being built in Beeston Hill and Holbeck.

As well as the new houses, 383 homes in the area are being refurbished to revitalise the communities as part of the housing regeneration project.

Councillor Keith Wakefield, leader of Leeds City Council, said: “Being able to present tenants with the keys to their brand new council home has given me a real sense of pride in what we’ve been able to achieve on their behalf.

“This is not just about bricks and mortar; by investing in council housing on this scale we are improving the quality of life for residents who move into these homes and helping them create a community they can be proud to live in.”

Health Visitors hand out hampers

Health Visitors from Parkside Community Health Centre delivered Christmas hampers to 100 South Leeds families in need.

The hampers are organised by local charity Fayre Share At Christmas, run by Beeston resident Christine Thornton. Funds are raised by the Health Visitors throughout the year including raffles and bric-a-brac stalls.

This year the charity has also been awarded grants by the Community First panels for Beeston & Holbeck and City & Hunslet.

This is the fourteenth year that Christine has organised hampers.

“It started with two of us, but now the whole team is involved” she explained. “This can be a very difficult time of year for families, especially if money is tight. Our hampers make sure that they at least get a good Christmas dinner.”

Families in need are identified by the Health Visitors and each receive a hamper including a frozen chicken, fresh vegetables and dry goods.

Sport 4 Life activities

Thanks to being a community reporter for South Leeds Life, I had the fantastic opportunity to experience my first Hamara Community Awards in Bradford on Thursday 4 December.

Everyone who had been involved with Hamara in the last year and before came to celebrate the event in the Aagrah banqueting hall. The room was light from floor to ceiling in a warm red glow and glasses sparkled on revolving centre table pieces. Guests congregated in reception bejeweled in glamorous dresses, drinking fruit punch and eating canapes.

I had come with committee member and friend, Noor.

We both looked at each other and agreed we were slightly under dressed in our smart yet casual attire.

“It’s about celebrating the unsung heroes and volunteers that make things happen in the community.”

The chair, Mohammed Farouk, welcomed us to the 5th Annual ceremony before handing over to the master of ceremonies Hanif Malik (CEO). Hanif guided us through the whole evening from guest speaker, to service user, to award winners. For a small charity which started only ten years ago, Hamara Healthy Living Centre in Beeston has grown to be one of the largest ethnic minority organisations in the voluntary and community sector in Leeds.

Hamara provides community multi-generational programs for a diverse range of people.The charity’s centre is based in South Leeds, but spreads its net further afield through effective community networking, helping to join up services city wide. All the sponsors, funders and supporters came up first to be acknowledged and took a bow.

Habib Khan (Manager) says “The awards started five years ago, and it’s mainly about celebrating the unsung heroes and volunteers that make things happen in the community. It’s very emotional and takes a lot out of us, but it’s rewarding too.”

The program of the evening was punctuated by courses of delicious food. Before starters we saw two speakers from West Yorkshire Police. They arrived just in time to be introduced, then jokingly labelled themselves as ‘Batman and Robin’.The police stressed the importance of working with a charity like Hamara in helping to maintain an essence of neighbourhood policing.Muslin Hussain There was an element of surprise to the evening, Youth Worker, Shanaz introduced us to Muslin Hussain, an 18 year old local cricket player. He spent ten years attending and volunteering on Youth Projects at Hamara, and now represents Yorkshire Academy in the England Under 19’s cricket team. He will be touring Dubai and Australia for the Ashes in March 2015. He says it was his time at Hamara that gave him the confidence and support he needed to work towards his sporting goal.

After the starters of Fish Masala, Lamb Chops and Channa Masala we experienced the official launch of ‘Sports 4 Life’ hosted by Community Sports worker Zoe Irish. She was joined on stage by two exercise bikes (installed in the break) and hooked up to screens. These were tested by two willing participants: Ikram Butt (ex rugby player) and Starr Zaman. The pair added comic value to the night by competing with each other on a 5 lap course. Despite the ‘nerves’ Zoe did a very professional job, including encouraging the successes of service users and treating us to motivational videos to believe in ourselves.

One lady in particular, Robina, gave her presentation of how she had lost weight in the gym at the centre. She now promotes a walking group in the neighbourhood.

Underselling herself Zoe reiterated her as an inspiration to others. This is shows how much everyone is valued and respected at the centre.

Before mains were served, Chicken Masala, Daal Tarka Lal Mas and Pilau Rice, we were treated to a montage video. This was of past winners of the awards who were also in the room. The Vangelis Chariots of Fire Soundtrack help to build up the collective emotion.

Women’s Achievement Award went to Bethany Hare, Bethany has raised £80,000 since she was 10 years old to help charities Martins House Hospice, Children Heart Surgery Fund, Give a Gift and various other children’s charities. After being inspired from reading stories written by terminally ill children. She sings for her charity Bethany

Smile and treated us to ‘Something Inside So Strong’ to finish the evening on a high note.

Community Organisation of the Year went to the Joanna Project. A women’s organisation who works with street workers offering advice and support. Success stories of rehabilitation go towards strengthening the work they do in the community.

Service to the Community went to ‘Pride of Britain Award 2011′ and local hero Yvonne Crowther. This is for all the youth work she has done in Beeston with helping to support and empower young people by running her Cafe Me’N’U.

Special Initiative Award went to Martin House Hospice.

Lifetime Achievement Award went to Harban Singh Sagoo a champion of the city’s Sikh community. He was welcomed to the stage with a standing ovation.

Before the last award Young Persons Award was announced we watched a clip from a recent ‘Educating Yorkshire’ video. I thought that this was another break, but the whole audience was surprised to see the boy filmed being helped to overcome his stammer through listening to music was with us and there to collect his award.

Musharaf Asghar came to accept his award to whoops and whistles!

I asked Hanif Malik how he felt at the end of the evening.

He said he felt “Exhilarated! It was fantastic reflection on the past year and really captured the spirit of Hamara.”

Thanks to everyone who made this such a success. I can’t wait for next year’s, at least I’ve got a bit of time to figure out what I’m going to wear!

The Sport4Life project is offering a variety of activities, held at different times of the week to make sure we offer everyone in the community the chance to take part in activities, starting with: Every Monday 11am – 12pm at Hamara we have a zumba vs aerobics class WOMEN ONLY Every Thursday 11:30am–2.30pm from Hamara to John Charles Centre for Sport walking and swimming group. (Meet at Hamara at 11:30, walk to John Charles, swim or have a cup of tea, walk back to Hamara) MEN ONLY Every Saturday 10–11am Cross Flatts Park running group (Meet at Hamara, over to Cross Flatts Park, back to Hamara) All abilities welcome, simply just turn up and it’s FREE! More activities such as tennis, cycling, cricket, family fun sessions will be added over the coming months.

Giving community safety a Sporting Chance The Hamara Healthy Living Centre in Beeston, under its ‘Sporting Chance’ banner, hosted a Community Safety Event in November.

The aim of the event was to promote services and raise awareness around various crimes and the effects of these. The event was targetted at young people, but also atttracted people from the whole community.

Sporting Chance is delivered in partnership with Leeds United and works with young people who are at risk and young people who are

ex-offenders, the Police and community groups to understand the impact of anti-social behaviour and crime. Community leaders, residents, victims of crime are given a platform to speak and encouraged to share their experiences of the effects of crime and fear on the local community.

A range of partner agencies delivered diverse activities around the following themes: * Effects of crime on the community * Child Sexual Exploitation / Grooming

* Hate Crime (two projects looking at Islamophobia and Disability Hate Crime) * Crime Reduction and antisocial behaviour * The Prevent / Radicalisation agenda * Domestic Violence * Substance misuse – the effects of drugs and alcohol on the community * Financial lending- Door stop.

Interactive workshops included graffiti workshops, DJ workshops, and vox popping.

Beeston’s Asha Neighbourhood Project celebrated another year of work with women and children at their recent Annual General Meeting.

The Building Blocks meeting room was packed with women of different generations and backgrounds. Now in its 29th year the centre which was originally set up to support Baangladeshi women works with all women in the community.

Different strands of Asha’s work were highlighted including the childcare and playschemes; the advice service which supported 213 women last year and the health project which helped 146 women.

Since 2011 Asha has been running a gardening project.

Fifty starter packs containing seeds, compost and pots have been handed out to women to help then start to grow vegetables in their own gardens.

Asha has been funded by the People's Health Trust to run a two year project recruiting local Bangladeshi women as volunteers, providing them with training and support so that they, in turn can provide support and help to those women in their local community who need it.

The Prerona Project has already seen women attending a development day at Leeds University and the older persons befriending service is now underway. One woman explained to the meeting how volunteering with the project had helped her to get a job.

A founder member of Asha summed up the spirit of the meeting when she said “It’s great to see different generations using Asha’s services. It’s all about women helping women, just like it’s always been.”

Peace-ing together a new tapestry

Women from different faiths and ethnic backgrounds are to join forces to create a new tapestry or banner that celebrates Leeds’ heritage.

The multi-cultural textile project will see women coming together to share skills, stories, food and friendship.

Workshops will run across the city including five sessions at venues in Beeston.

The organisation behind the project is Concord, the Leeds multi faith group. The textile project is part of an effort to relaunch the group’s women’s section and will mark Concord’s 40th anniversary in 2016.

The first workshops in January will run at the Hamara Centre on Thursday 8 and 22 January from 10am to 12pm. Further workshops will run in March.

For more information contact Jenny on (0113) 266 4532, email: jpatonwilliams@gmail.com or Cynthia concordwomen@phonecoop.coop.

South Leeds Life | January 2015

www.southleedslife.com

8 Opinion

In our view

South Bank developers

The developers are clearly at the start of their journey so it is too early for them to give cast iron guarantees about consultation and jobs.

As you’d expect they’re making the right noises at present but we’ll keep following their progress to ensure their words regarding jobs, links and consultation aren’t just empty ones.

We’d also like the throw down the gauntlet to other potential developers of the site around The Tetley – what are your plans?

How do you plan to involve local residents? South Leeds Life would love to hear from you!

Twitter: @SouthLeedsLife

Facebook: facebook.com/southleedslife

Your letters and comments

Top Tweets

Dogs in parks debate

I have a dog, he runs loose on playing fields, but he is not the type to bother anyone else. If I think he’s going too far a quick blast on his whistle and he comes straight back.

Why should he be penalised because of a few idiots?

All dogs are supposed to wear a collar with ID. How about passing a law where they are all chipped and neutered (unless registered breeder) too? Make the owners responsible. Issue police with scanners.

Impose heavy fines and enforce payment.

My labrador is a member of my family and everyone who knows her love her dearly. She knows her place and is nothing but loving to both children and adults. It all comes down to how she has been brought up and trained.

What should be done is to identify the irresponsible dog owners and throw the book at them. Make an example of people who own dogs for status rather than as a member of their family.

We no longer go to Cross Flatts Park as over recent years there has been an increase in these “status” dogs. It is not the

There’s no denying that South Leeds Academy has had its share of problems since it was formed in 2004. The recent Ofsted report shows it’s finally turned a corner. We will be working with the school to bring you news from staff and students as the school moves forward in the coming months.

Beeston will forever be associated with the London Bombings of 7 July 2005. It’s up to residents to prove that the bombers don’t represent the spirit of Beeston. We can do that by working together in harmony, as we do at Beeston Festival each year.

If you ban dogs from parks the only ones who will take any notice are the responsible owners. The idiots don’t care because they know all they will get is a slap on the wrist!

Gail

dog’s fault but the irresponsible idiots who think it is clever to bring up a dog up to be uncontrollable and aggressive. Dealing with these PEOPLE should be the approach taken.

Adam

Penalising the responsible majority due to the behavior of the few is not the way to address this issue.

Whilst it should be compulsory for all new dog owners to attend a training class with their dog for socialisation and recall training etc it should also be compulsory for all primary school children to receive responsible pet ownership/dog awareness education.

Suzanne Grace

Your Councillors and MP Beeston & Holbeck ward

Includes Beeston from Cross Flatts Park up to the Co-op, Cottingley, old Holbeck. The three councillors are:

David Congreve 0113 277 7389 david.congreve@leeds.gov.uk Angela Gabriel 07946 632 468 angela.gabriel@leeds.gov.uk Adam Ogilvie 0113 247 4578 adam.ogilvie@leeds.gov.uk

City & Hunslet ward Includes the city centre, Holbeck Urban Village, Beeston Hill and Hunslet. The three councillors are:

Patrick Davey 0113 261 0465 patrick.davey@leeds.gov.uk Mohammed Iqbal 0113 294 1049 mohammed.iqbal@leeds.gov.uk Elizabeth Nash 0113 275 8594 elizabeth.nash@leeds.gov.uk

Middleton Park ward Includes Belle Isle and Middleton. The three councillors are:

Judith Blake Kim Groves Paul Truswell

Trolleybus

Thank you for highlighting the problems the residents of Whitfield Estate will face if this stupid idea of the tram comes past the Garden Gate pub. All those trees will have to come down, the playarea for the school next to St Joseph’s will have to go.

For what?

What a waste of money when that could be used to keep some old people’s homes open, and that small strip of land near Whitfield Street will not be any good.

Whoever thought of this stupid idea has more money than brains.

J Taylor

South Leeds Academy

Legacy of 7/7 bombings

Or is the richness of having dogs in our lives something we are prepared to risk injury to the most vulnerable in our society. Do we then mitigate that risk.

Accept all dogs may bite so limit ownership to those breeds we know mix well with people and cannot cause severe injuries by perhaps saying anything with a stronger bite than a Labrador or Springer is completely outlawed from Britain.

Somewhere amongst all this is an answer.

John

0113 395 1735 judith.blake@leeds.gov.uk 07891 741 832 kim.groves@leeds.gov.uk 0113 247 4472 paul.truswell@leeds.gov.uk

Leeds Central MP – Rt Hon Hilary Benn Hilary Benn is our MP. He represents the Leeds Central constituency which covers Hunslet, Belle Isle, Beeston, Holbeck, Cottingley in south Leeds as well as the city centre, Woodhouse, Little London, Lincoln Green, Richmond Hill, Osmondthorpe, Halton Moor and New Wortley.

Contact: hilary.benn.mp@parliament.uk, www.hilarybennmp.com Constituency office: 2 Blenheim Terrace, Leeds, LS2 9JG; phone: 0113 244 1097

How do we define what is responsible? Is just keeping them on a lead responsible? Do you have to pick up poo? Do you have to be able to recall the dog when it’s off the lead? If so is recall every time required or do we accept there are times you won’t be able to?

Or do we say responsible is recognising these are living creatures with their own mind.

That recall cannot be guaranteed every time. That there are times we can’t pick up all the poo. That they can sometimes slip the lead.

That all dogs can bite. Is responsible then saying I will only exercise my dog in a park where dogs are not going to cause a nuisance or danger to anyone else in any reasonably forseable circumstance.

Communication

I get frustrated when I hear people say things like “I didn’t know about …”, “nobody told me this was happening”.

Some people really do expect to be “spoon-fed” with info and don’t accept their personal responsibility to be aware of what is going on around them and be proactive in finding things out. I guess this is one aspect of a general apathy that appears to be so prevalent with many people.

Fundamentally, what you get out is proportional to what you put in. When people realise and understand this, then engagement and participation increases.

Rich

New housing

I live near the new housing and I think that the they look a lot nicer than the old ones that were demolished. I just wish they matched their high standards when it came to finishing off the pavements in front of the new houses, the pavements on Beeston Road and Malvern Road are now very bumpy, I’m not sure if the pavements are finished or not, but it does make it difficult when I’m pushing my dad in his wheelchair and usually end up walking on the road.

Michael Ruff Join the debate.

Comment online, email your letter to info@southleedslife.com, or post to: 224 Cross Flatts Grove, Leeds, LS11 7BW. Letters may be edited for publication.

Keep up to date with the latest comments and debate at: www.southleedslife.com

Keep up to date, up to the minute, by following South Leeds Life’s Twitter feed: @SouthLeedsLife.

Twitter is the 140 character ‘micro blogging’ site. It’s free and you can sign up at twitter.com. It’s a great place to find the very latest news.

Here are some of our favourite recent tweets: @groves_kim Massive well done to all @CB_FT for delivering Christmas Lunch yesterday to elderly people across South Leeds thank you @Deanneferguson @SouthLeedsLife it's been a pleasure volunteering with members of our SL community 2day. #CiaranBinghamFT you are an inspiration to us all x @LCHNHSTrust .@SouthLeedsLife thanks for sharing how our health visitors are supporting families in the area over Xmas tinyurl.com/ozpp6lf #SouthLeeds @RichardsTweet_ @sparkyluce @SouthLeedsLife @KeepmoatHomes Hope they've got room for wardrobes, it's not possible to live in some of these new build homes! @HunsletRugby 66 at this morning's Cross Flatts Parkrun. Well done to everyone especially Emil for his bugle accompanant. @MartinDDean Holbeck Elderly Aid boss has just told me how good this write up was for all involved @SouthLeedsLife @sparkyluce southleedslife.com/rockinaway-afternoon @LeedsInspired We've heard that donkeys, goats & sheep will be making an appearance @ Beeston Lantern Fest this eve leedsinspired.co.uk/events/bee ston… @tenantshallec Looking forward to hosting Middleton Community Group's meeting on Saturday, 10am - come and discuss Middleton issues! @shine_leeds In the second of our Shine series on @SouthLeedsLife Shannon is bigging up @T_S_L_A and the joys of @TSLAMaths goo.gl/lg2A5X

www.southleedslife.com

Website: www.southleedslife.com

South Leeds Life | January 2015

My Life in South Leeds 9

Email: info@southleedslife.com

We want to hear the story of your life in South Leeds

Who doesn’t love a story? Think about it.

Whether you are an avid reader, a habitual Soap Opera viewer or just an enthusiastic gossiper, story has a place in your life. We love to know what other people get up to; it is only natural to be curious.

I expect you, like me, often think of other people as the story-makers. After all they have the fancy words or the unexpected life experiences and you may feel just ordinary. stories are especially important when they

come from the place that you live in and call your home. Stories bring people together, they allow us a sigh-of-relief as we realise it is ‘not just me’. Stories can reveal our differences and our similarities; they unveil the humanness in us

Beeston in Bloom

by Vivienne Bate Although I’ve lived in Beeston since 1940, it wasn’t until 2000 that I became involved in local affairs.

There was an event about “How You Want Your to Neighbourhood Develop”, where various interest groups had information stalls, and that’s where I came across Beeston in Bloom.

They’d existed about three years then, starting out with only three members who planted up some hanging baskets and gave them to residents in one particularly drab street. By the time I came along we’d realised that people were not looking after their freebies, so we stopped giving them away and, instead, raised money to buy baskets from the Council.

We leafleted the area seeking sponsorship from businesses and residents, schools and churches, and we still do that every year.

Nowadays we need to raise £7k a year, just for hanging baskets.

In 60 years I’d seen Beeston change from a place where salt-of-the-earth people lived into a run-down area with houses owned by uncaring landlords and occupied by transients, no-goods and deadbeats – or so I thought. When I joined Beeston in Bloom I was heartened to realise that the majority of people are still sane, sensible and decent. I found that if you are in one group you get drawn into others, and it was an eyeopener to discover how very many people are trying to improve life in one way or another, according to their particular interests.

Just as my 70th birthday was looming the then Secretary resigned. Although I thought I might soon be too decrepit, I volunteered to take her place and did the job for 8 years,

Vivienne (left) with fellow Beeston In Bloom-ers Linda and Susan

being Treasurer as well for 3 of them.

A wonderful man in the Parks & Countryside Department called Richard Gill took the group under his wing, helped us to apply for funding, shared his horticultural knowledge with us and introduced us to the Council’s Nursery at Redhall. Part of Richard’s job is to co-ordinate In Bloom groups. There were only 4 in Leeds back in 2000; now there are 50-something.

In 2001 Richard encouraged us to enter the Yorkshire in Bloom competition. “What?” we said, “It’s all about pretty villages!” But no, there are loads of categories, including Urban Community, which describes Beeston exactly. We are judged in Spring and Summer. We pick the judging route and obviously include our best projects, but there are several criteria to fulfil, like Horticultural Practice, Environmental Responsibility, Community Participation, Wildlife Areas and so on. It’s not just about flowers.

In 2006 we were Best in Category and were invited to represent Yorkshire in BRITAIN in Bloom in 2007.

Sharp intake of breath, but we had to go for it.

What a year that was! As Secretary I made a conscious decision to dedicate myself completely to Beeston in Bloom, and hardly a day passed without some Blooming activity. Apart from our equally dedicated members, who were a superb team, I contacted schools, churches, other

volunteer groups, businesses, residents, allotment societies and exhorted them to back the campaign – with gratifying results in most cases.

The day before judging found us painting street furniture, collecting dead sofas etc from gardens on the route (into my poor ol’ motor) to go to the tip, litter-picking like crazies, on hands and knees weeding the streets. Then came the day of judgment. The sun shone, our collaborators turned out in force, and Beeston looked its best. The judges were fed and watered, and eventually we waved the two charming gentlemen good-bye and heaved a sigh of relief.

We had to wait 7 weeks to hear the results, which were announced at a glittering Awards Ceremony in Coventry Cathedral. Urban Community was the last category to be announced; out of 7 entries 4 got silver and 3, including Beeston, Silver-Gilt.

We were satisfied that we’d acquitted ourselves honourably.

I retired as Secretary in 2010, but still kept a grip on the purse strings until 2013.

I’ve absolutely loved the actual gardening, which we do in all weathers, even starting at 7am on Sunday sometimes when we work in the middle of a major busy road. I love our plant sales, especially the one included in Beeston Festival which is really popular, because you meet such nice people.

And it’s such a sociable way to get fresh air and exercise.

all. Stories can give communities a voice.

South Leeds Life is inviting you to share your story about how you live your life in South Leeds. Perhaps you have lived here forever and have seen places come and go, you could take

others on a winding trip down memory lane.You may have just enjoyed a special family occasion that you would like to share. Maybe you have an interest that you know other people in South Leeds enjoy or perhaps, recently, you achieved something you are proud of. We’d love to hear your story.

We can help you write it if you don’t feel confident, or you could tell it through photos or make a video. Get in touch by emailing info@southleedslife.com.

Young women tell their stories

South Leeds Life talked to a group of girls and young women who attend the Shine Project in Hunslet. These are three of their stories, you can find two more online at www.southleedslife.com.

Hi, my name is Amie, I am 14 years old and live in Belle Isle. I have been at The Shine Project in Hunslet for about 3 years and I have loved every second of it.

I go to a group on a Tuesday where we do all sorts of things such as baking and trying new things like a persimmon which is a weird fruit!

We also play funny games like eating donuts off a line and the strawberry lace race. We go to a near by field when it’s sunny to do all kinds of fun sports like croquet, rounders and more! We also go on trips like to Flamingo Land, climbing (which was particularly good!) and out for meals.

We also do sessions on self-confidence, talking about ‘I’m the girl I want to be’ where we do different activities like saying nice things about people to make them smile, think about what we’d like to do in the future and talk about how words can hurt people. We also picked a celebrity who we thought was a good role model and explain why we liked them. I chose Jessica Ennis because she is a very pretty, down to earth and a successful person in sports which I like so it would be great to be like her!

Hi my name is Millie I am 13 years old and I want to talk about my school and how I came to play the guitar.

I have always been interested in bands and how music is made. I have now been playing the acoustic guitar for about 6 weeks. I am not very good yet but it is something to do when I’m bored and I really enjoy it! The type of music I like is pop punk and the bands I like are: All Time Low, Sleeping with Sirens, Bring Me Over The Horizon and Madness.

I go to Rodillian Academy and there is a group that encourages music in the school, we have over 15 electric and acoustic guitars. Our school is really supportive of people playing musical instruments and they do free lessons.Also, every Saturday they do a morning jam group for £5 which is open to everyone, you don’t have to be a student at Rodillian.

Sharing music is really important to me,

because it brings people together and helps me to socialise. I would like to encourage more people to take up playing an instrument because if you are interested in music it is a really good way to learn more about it.

Hello! My name is Grace and I love horses.

I am 10 years old and live Belle Isle.

One morning my mum took me riding, with my auntie. First we had to groom the horse and muck out his stable. I brushed his tail and mane, picked his feet, brushed his body, refilled his water and food bowl. Then I had to muck out.

Yuck! You have to do all of this before you ride.

Once I had finished, my auntie asked me to go get the tack. It was really heavy. I brought it back to the stable and my auntie started tacking. In five minutes she was done and I was ready to ride.

I put my hat on and the whip in my boot and climbed on. I had to kick him on so he would move. I had the whip, so he listened to my instructions. My auntie instructed me, and told me where to go and what to do. My auntie wanted to teach me how to canter, she gave me instructions. She shouted, “Now, go into canter!” I kicked him as hard as I could and gave him a tap with the whip. He didn’t spook, as he was used to a tap.

I began to canter and it was great! I managed to do 5 strides of canter then suddenly the horse shot off with me still on him but I couldn’t hold on and I lost one of my stirrups, let go of my reins and was thrown off! I hit the floor quite hard and hurt myself. It was quite a shock! I jolted my back quite a bit so had to go to the hospital for a check over. They gave me some medicine and they told me to rest for a while. It did hurt but I was soon OK! I didn’t give up riding and soon got back on a horse! I want to encourage other people to have a go at horse riding because it is an amazing experience and really fun - even when you fall off!

South Leeds Life | January 2015

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10 What’s On

Twitter: @SouthLeedsLife

What’s On

Your guide to events and activities across South Leeds in December Monday 5 January Friends of Stank Hall Barn 7:30pm Tommy Wass pub Dewsbury Road Tuesday 6 January Love Food, Hate Waste 9:30am-12:30pm St George’s Centre, Middleton Wednesday 7 January ESOL (English) Course for Women 9:30am-12pm Hillside, Beeston Road CAP Job Club 10am-12pm Two Willows Children’s Centre, Cardinal Square, Beeston Hunslet Memories 12-2pm Garden Gate pub Hunslet Tenants & Residents Association 6:30-8pm Church of Nazarene, Grove Road Thursday 8 January Beeston Community Forum with Hilary Benn MP 7:30pm Beeston Village Community Centre Friday 9 January South Leeds Life News Cafe 10am-12pm BITMOs GATE, Aberfield Gate, Belle Isle In Harmony Community Choir 12:30-1:15pm Parkside Rugby Club, Belle Isle Road Friday Night Project 6-9pm Middleton Leisure Centre Tuesday 13 January Young Chefs (boys group) Five week course 4-5:30pm South Leeds Youth Hub, Middleton Road, belle

Fitness Classes

Isle Music At The Hub 4-6pm South Leeds Youth Hub, Middleton Road, Belle Isle Wednesday 14 January ESOL (English) Course for Women 9:30am-12pm Ingram Road Primary School, Holbeck CAP Job Club 10am-12pm Two Willows Children’s Centre, Cardinal Square, Beeston Cottingley Hall TRAC 6:30-8pm Cottingley Primary Academy Thursday 15 January Young Chefs (girls group) Five week course 4-5:30pm South Leeds Youth Hub, Middleton Road, belle Isle Friday 16 January South Leeds Life News Cafe 10am-12pm BITMOs GATE, Aberfield Gate, Belle Isle Big Garden Birdwatch 11am-3pm Middleton Park Visitor Centre In Harmony Community

For up to date event information make sure you go online to

www.southleedslife.com and check the What’s On Calendar

Choir 12:30-1:15pm Parkside Rugby Club, Belle Isle Road Friday Night Project 6-9pm Middleton Leisure Centre Saturday 17 January Leeds Young Archaeologists Club 10am-12pm Middleton Park Visitor Centre Tuesday 20 January Music At The Hub 4-6pm South Leeds Youth Hub, Middleton Road, Belle Isle Wednesday 21 January CAP Job Club 10am-12pm Two Willows Children’s Centre, Cardinal Square, Beeston What’s It All About?

Q&A about Holbeck housing regeneration works 2-3pm Ingram Gardens Community Centre Friday 23 January South Leeds Life News Cafe 10am-12pm BITMOs GATE, Aberfield Gate, Belle Isle In Harmony Community Choir 12:30-1:15pm Parkside Rugby Club, Belle Isle Road Friday Night Project 6-9pm Middleton Leisure Centre Tuesday 27 January Music At The Hub 4-6pm South Leeds Youth Hub, Middleton Road, Belle Isle Wednesday 28 January CAP Job Club 10am-12pm Two Willows Children’s Centre, Cardinal Square, Beeston Friday 30 January South Leeds Life News Cafe 10am-12pm BITMOs GATE, Aberfield Gate, Belle Isle In Harmony Community Choir 12:30-1:15pm Parkside Rugby Club, Belle Isle Road Friday Night Project 6-9pm Middleton Leisure Centre

Mondays: General fitness for the over 55's 11:30am-12:30pm St. Andrews Community Centre, Beeston.

Keep Fit 4:15-5pm BITMOs GATE, Aberfield Gate, Belle Isle Tuesdays: General fitness over 55's 10-11am St Anthony's church hall, Beeston Chair based mobility session 11.30am - 1.00pm tea and chat after session Cottingley Community Centre Wednesdays: Chair mobility Trinity network, Belle Isle Over 55's Nesfield church hall community room.

10-10:45am General fitness Belle Isle Family Centre 6-7pm Clubbercise Dance and get fit in the dark with disco lights and glow sticks Cranmore & Raylands Community Centre 7:15-8pm Thursdays: Chair based mobility group and games group 11:15am-12:30pm Beeston Village Community Centre Mashed up fitness session aerobic dance 1:45-2:45pm Beeston Village Community Centre General fitness 6-7pm Beeston Parish Centre Clubbercise 7:15pm-8pm Beeston Parish Centre Saturdays: Cross Flatts Parkrun Run or walk 5km 9am Watsonian Pavilion, Cross Flatts Park Sundays: Circuit Training 4:30-5:15pm Beeston Parish Centre Clubbercise 5:15-6pm Beeston Parish Centre

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Panto Preview: Puss In Boots

Have you ever wondered what your cat would say if it could talk? Or what life as a cobbler would be like? Or maybe you’ve always wanted to impersonate a member of the Aristocracy? If so, maybe you should consider putting your psychiatrist on danger money. Or perhaps you could just come with us to the once mighty kingdom of Albarosa.

When lowly Tom Miller and his faithful cat are cast out by his brothers he decides to find his fortune in town. Meanwhile, skint monarchs King Felix and Queen Gwendolyn are having enough trouble dealing with a terrifying Ogre ravaging their kingdom, and the local business people, Kitty the shoemaker and the old mill owners are no help at all. But when a sophisticated stranger and his man servant show up things really start to change.

There’s an incompetent Fairy, dopey guards, destitute Monarchs, comical Cobblers, a hero, a Princess, an Ogre and his minions and a cat in footwear.

So join us for laughs, songs, dances and more shoes than you can shake a stick at in this year’s fantastic pantomime, Puss in Boots. It’s a lot cheaper than putting your psychiatrist on danger money.

All performances take place at St Andrew’s Community Centre, Old Lane, Beeston, LS11 8AG. January 2015 Dates Saturday January 10th 2:00pm & 7:00pm Sunday January 11th 2:00pm Wednesday 14th January 7:00pm Friday 16th January 7:00pm Saturday 17th January 2:00pm & 7:00pm Sunday January 18th 2:00pm Tuesday January 20th 7:00pm Thursday January 22nd 7:00pm Friday January 23rd 7:00pm Saturday January 24th 2:00pm & 7:00pm Prices: Adults £5.00 Children £3.00. To book tickets please contact the Box Office on 07443 571 868, or e-mail us at standrewspantogroup@hotmail.com, or visit us on the web at www.standrewspanto.uk.

Publicise your event with South Leeds Life Send full details of your event to: info@southleedslife.com, or post to: 224 Cross Flatts Grove, Leeds, LS11 7BW

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South Leeds Life | January 2015

Local history 11

Email: info@southleedslife.com

Hopes afresh for Holbeck viaduct

Longawaited proposals to re-open the unused Holbeck rail viaduct as a public walkway are hopefully taking root at last, following the first major public meeting at the end of last year.

Those coordinating the scheme have been talking with the owners, Network Rail – who have now requested a full project proposal, with the possibility that feasibility work could start in earnest in 2015.

Plans to revive the viaduct, built in 1880 but unused since the 1980s, have been in circulation since at least the 1990s. As previously reported here on South Leeds Life and elsewhere, those plans have taken on a new lease of life in the past eighteen months, with local residents starting to pull together a major partnership of people and groups interested in working on the scheme together.

So, several dozen of them – including engineers, architects, local politicians, would-be volunteers, artists, and plenty of local residents – gathered at the Old Chapel Studios in Holbeck for the meeting in late November. For many, it was an opportunity to learn about the project, but

by Ed Carlisle

also to share dreams and ideas for the scheme, explore barriers and challenges, and discuss ways forward.

One of those leading on the project, Beeston resident Ed Carlisle, said: “We’re still at a really early stage, and there’s a lot of uncertainty as to whether this can work. But the interest and enthusiasm has been staggering, and Network Rail in particular seem interested in seeing what

we come up with. Hopefully 2015 will see a bit of take-off for the project – so if people want to get involved, please get in touch.”

To find out more, find the project on Facebook (the ‘Holbeck Highline’) or Twitter (@holbeckhighline), or keep an eye on the South Leeds Life website and newspapers.

Photo: James via Creative Commons

Garden Gate opens Hunslet rugby league heritage rooms Jack Walkington Alf Burnell Geoff Gunney Dennis Hartley Brian Gabbitas Bill Ramsey Graham King John Wolford James Lowes

The Hunslet Rugby Foundation in association with the Garden Gate pub have created two heritage rooms dedicated to the history of Hunslet Rugby League.

The second “Hunslet Rugby League Remembered” Heritage Room was officially opened on 17 December.

The rooms are decorated with displays of memorabilia from every era of the club, with special features on Alan Snowden, the club’s record tries in a season scorer and Billy Langton the club’s record points

scorer.

Hunslet players past and present were in attendance and the Championship 1 Grand final trophy recently won by Hunslet Hawks was proudly on display.

The second room at the Garden Gate brings the Club’s history timeline up to date and incorporates the Hunslet Rugby League Hall of Fame. The second room consists of Time Boards 1974 – 1995 and 1996 – 2014 featuring the following club legends: Albert Goldthorpe

As writer John Rigg noted: “The Garden Gate is an appropriate venue for the Heritage Room. It was built in 1903 and, since the 1970s, its status as a Grade II listed building has thankfully preserved it from the urban planners and developers.

Moreover, I was told, it was the hostelry in which the Hunslet team gathered with their supporters to celebrate the completion of their “All Four Cups” feat in 1907-08.”

Both events were supported by Leeds Brewery who offer 100 pints at just 10p each.This no doubt helped the throng sing lusty performances of the club song ‘We’ve swept the seas before boys, and so we shall again.’

If you have any club memorabilia you would like to donate please contact Peter Jarvis: peterjarvis8@sky.com.

Temple trilogy

While at school, we had an eccentric headmaster that we thought too strict.

Mr. Blakeborough, Old Blakey we used to call him.

He used to appear in the senior class, and say “I want two volunteers – you two will do”. Then he would send the two hapless “volunteers” to a destination within an easy walking distance.There would be something of interest to see there, and whoever was sent would have to report back to him, saying what they had seen.

One day I was one of the chosen “volunteers”. We had to go to find out about Temple Mill. We thought it was a peculiar building, dark stone, a weird looking thing. At the time I didn’t know that it would be part of my life for many years!

I worked there for about 30 years. I enjoyed the work, and soon made friends. At that time it was better known as Kays, the mail order firm.

The main building was a former flax mill, which had been designed to look like an ancient Egyptian Temple. It was inspired by the ancient Temple at Edfu, and is now listed at Grade One, and is in the top 2.5% of all listed buildings in the country.When in use as a mill flax was spun there in what was described as the largest single room in the world. Flax needed a constant humidity and to help with this, the roof was grassed over, and sheep used to graze there to keep it to a decent level.

John Marshall was interested in the welfare of his workers, and used the cellars to house a school, and shops. While working there, we had a quick chance to have a look at the underfloor area. A crack appeared in the asphalt floor, and when a builder was called in for the repair, it was found that a large flagstone under the floor was cracked. It had to be taken up to be replaced.

On looking down the hole we saw lots of interesting bits and pieces. The warehouse manager was called and soon stopped us from going down.

As time went on Kays were taken over by the Littlewoods firm, and owing to the decline in catalogue shopping we were made redundant. A sad time for many of us, at its peak Kays employed about 1000 people.

by Martyn White

By this time the building was getting into a state of poor repair, the roof leaked whenever there was any rain. Paintwork was peeling and various areas were looking very neglected.

The site has suffered vandalism, many windows being broken.

But help is at hand, the site has been taken over and the intention is to reopen the building as an arts centre. Over the last few years, various artists and craftworkers have been using a small section of the Temple to “do their thing”. Low budget films have been made there and parts of the building have been left looking “distressed”. Different groups put on acts and music gigs happen.

Upstairs in the old canteen, Railway enthusiasts recreate layouts.

I hope that it doesn’t take too long to get the project finished, as I would enjoy seeing the place in use as a viable centre.

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South Leeds Life | January 2015

12 Sport

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Hawks prepare to fly Back in October, Hunslet Hawks rugby league club won a famous victory over Oldham Roughyeds at Headingley and with it promotion to the Kingstone Press Championship.

South Leeds Life will be following the Hawks progress through what promises to be a very exciting season. We have teamed up with the club and will be supporting three writers covering matches for us and the club.

It’s a big step up for a small community-owned club like Hunslet.They will be facing clubs with much bigger budgets who have recently been competing in Super League such as former World Club Champions Bradford Bulls and the London Broncos.

The squad has been overhauled during the close season. New signings include Vinny Finnegan from Batley; goalkicking halfback Simon Brown and Irish international Callum Casey from Halifax; centre Elliott Cosgrove from Keighley and hooker George Flanagan and halfback Andy Kain from Featherstone.

On signing Vinny Finigan, Director of Rugby Darren Williams said “We needed to add some strike power out wide and Vinny brings that in abundance, he works and lives in Leeds so it’s a good fit for him and the club. He was very highly thought of at Bradford Bulls as he came up through the ranks and were pleased to add him to

2015 fixture list

Pre-season: TBC Featherstone Rovers v Hunslet Hawks 3pm Gareth Swift Memorial Trophy 18/01/2015 Hunslet Hawks v Leeds Rhinos 3pm Lazenby Cup 25/01/2015 Doncaster v Hunslet Hawks 3pm John Sheridan Trophy 08/02/2015 Rochdale Hornets v Hunslet Hawks 3pm Supporters Direct Shield our Championship squad for 2015. He’s played in alot of big games at Championship level and above and that experience will be of huge benefit as we face some tough challenges next season.”

Looking ahead to the beginning of the 2015 season, Head Coach Barry Eaton said: "In terms of difficulty, opening day fixtures certainly don’t come much harder than a trip to Featherstone, but we are all looking forward to the challenge. The reason we worked so hard to gain promotion from Championship One was so that we could test ourselves against quality opposition week in week out.

The Kingstone Press Championship will certainly give us that platform and we cant

wait to get going.”

In his Christmas message to fans, Club Chairman Neil Hampshire said: “Your dedication and vocal support in 2014 was absolutely outstanding and much appreciated by us all but especially the players. Long may it continue as we all pull together to keep the Club moving forward.”

Season tickets are now available from the club shop at South Leeds Stadium priced at £180, £120 (concessions) and £60 (under 16s). A range of ‘I Am Hunslet’ membership packages are also available.

2015 will mark the 50 year anniversary of the 1965 Challenge Cup final when Hunslet played Wigan in what is still regarded as one of the

greatest ever challenge cup finals.

To commemorate that historic occasion, the club have produced playing kitbased on the strip worn by the 1965 side that graced Wembley that day.

The design will see the Hawks moving from the traditional myrtle white and flame band to a chevron design on the home kit.

The main feature of the retro design will feature images from the cup final which will be sublimated on both the front and backs of the playing shirts.

The playing shirts will also feature the Hunslet Lion badge, the same badge which was on the Hunslet kit in 1965. The surnames of all the 1965 squad will be sublimated on to the chevron of both shirts.

Kingstone Press Championship 15/02/2015 Featherstone Rovers v Hunslet Hawks 3pm 22/02/2015 Hunslet Hawks v Batley Bulldogs 3pm 01/03/2015 Hunslet Hawks v Dewsbury Rams 3pm 08/03/2015 Bradford Bullsv Hunslet Hawks 3pm 15/03/2015 Hunslet Hawks v Doncaster 3pm 29/03/2015 Sheffield Eagles v Hunslet Hawks TBC 03/04/2015 Hunslet Hawks v Leigh Centurions 2pm 06/04/2015 Halifax v Hunslet Hawks 3pm 12/04/2015 Hunslet Hawks v Whitehaven 3pm 26/04/2015 Workington Town v Hunslet Hawks 3pm 03/05/2015 Hunslet Hawks v London Broncos 3pm 10/05/2015 Dewsbury Rams v Hunslet Hawks 3pm 17/05/2015 Leigh Centurions v Hunslet Hawks 3pm 24/05/2015 Doncaster v Hunslet 3pm (Summer Bash) 29/05/2015 Hunslet Hawks v Sheffield Eagles 8pm 07/06/2015 Whitehaven v Hunslet Hawks 3pm 12/06/2015 Hunslet Hawks v Halifax 8pm 21/06/2015 London Broncos v Hunslet Hawks 3pm 28/06/2015 Hunslet Hawks v Featherstone Rovers 3pm 05/07/2015 Hunslet Hawks v Bradford Bulls 3pm 12/07/2015 Doncaster v Hunslet Hawks TBC 19/07/2015 Batley Bulldogs v Hunslet Hawks 3pm 26/07/2015 Hunslet Hawks v Workington Town 3pm

Keep your keep fit resolutions in the community Was your New Year’s resolution to improve your fitness? Are you unsure where to start? Are you put off going to gym because of all those ‘lycralovelies’?

There is an alternative. Classes, many of them free, are run right across South Leeds in community centres. They are fun and friendly and many of them are run by Julie Gill.

Julie is passionate about community fitness classes: “It’s how I got started. I used to go to keep fit at the YWCA in Middleton. The instructor spotted I had some movement ability and encouraged me to get trained.”

Going back to education Julie took a GCSE in Contemporary Dance, then a BTEC in Sport Science and finally gained her degree in Exercise & Health.

“There are lots of community classes that are affordable or free. Come and get involved, they are mostly women and very friendly. It’s a very supportive atmosphere and many people make friendships.”

Julie particularly recommends her Clubbercise classes.They are great fun and take place in the dark so you can stay anonymous.

“Some people move on from the classes. My friend Debbie Fletcher lost over three stone over three years. Her self esteem grew and she has now joined a gym.”

Exercise needn’t stop when you retire and Julie runs several classes, including chair-based sessions for the over 55s.

You can find out details of classes in the What’s On guide on page 10 or email Julie at keepfitjulie@yahoo.co.uk.