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Issue 36 | January 2018

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

In this issue:

Hall in community ownership

page 3

Asha celebrates learning success

page 7

BIKE HUB LAUNCHES

The first phase of a new Urban Bike Park in Middleton Park was officially opened in December. Speaking at the opening Cllr Judith Blake (Leader of Leeds City Councillor and member for Middleton Park ward) spoke enthusiastically about the growth in popularity of cycling in Leeds since the Tour de France Grand Depart in 2014. She said she was particularly pleased that the bike hub had been located in Middleton, making it accessible to young people who don’t always have

the opportunity to use such facilities. Speaking about the closure of Middleton Park golf course, she said: “As local Councillors we were determined that something special would replace it, something that will deliver for young people in South Leeds.” As we reported last month, the Bike Park features BMX, pump and mini-pump tracks as well as MTB trails. The former golf clubhouse has been refurbished and extended to create a café, shop and

classroom and the car park has been enlarged. These facilities are available for everyone to use whether you are a cyclist or not. Shanaze Reade, the former BMX world champion and Olympian, told South Leeds Life: “Cycling’s future depends on the grassroots, not just the elite riders. This facility really hits the nail on the head, catering for both. I’m impressed how Cycle Pathways have really engaged with the local community.” Alan Shaw, Chair of the

Maureen Woods’ obituary

pages 10-11

Former BMX world champion Shanaze Reade (front) Jeremy Hayes, director, Cycle Pathway, Brian Whaley, Sport England, Cllr Judith Blake and Jonny Clay, British Cycling

Friends of Middleton Park commented: “This is a great investment for the Middleton Park. “This is a new chapter for the park and we look forward to welcoming many more people to enjoy this fabulous green space.” Jonny Clay, British Cycling’s Director of Cycling said: “One of the many reasons for cycling’s growth in popularity in recent years is the diverse range of ways in which people can enjoy riding their bike, be that recreationally, for

transportation or competitively. “This facility will not only allow people to experience cycling in many of its forms, but will be a true asset to the community, giving children, families and beginners – alongside more experienced riders – the chance to enjoy one of the city’s green spaces in a different way.” The £1.2m development has been funded by British Cycling and Sport England in partnership with Leeds City Council and Cycle Pathway CIC who will manage the hub.

Boxing gold for Ismail Khan

page 20

NEWS CHRISTMAS

2-8 9-11

FEEDBACK

SCHOOLS

PEOPLE

14-15

ARTS

16-17

WHAT’S ON

18-19

SPORT

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

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South Leeds Life | January 2018

2 News

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About us South Leeds Life is written by and for local people. People who live, work and play in the LS10 and LS11 areas of South Leeds. The website and newspaper are produced by South Leeds Life CIC, a social enterprise registered with Companies House, No 9998695. South Leeds Life is a member of the Independent Community News Network. 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.

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MP’s notebook by Hilary Benn MP Seeing the New Year in has its own special traditions, but one that is less than popular is the annual rise in rail fares. This year they are going up by around 3.4% - the largest increase for five years. Comparing the rise in fares on over 80 routes between when the current Government came to power and this January, the average commuter will now be paying £2,888 for their annual season ticket - that's £694 more than in 2010. At a time when real wages for many people are stagnant, this will hit family budgets hard. But it's not the only thing happening on our railways that is raising hackles. Take the extraordinary announcement back in November by Chris Grayling the Transport Secretary about the future of the East Coast mainline. The franchise has had a somewhat chequered history. From the mid 1990s the line was run by GNER until financial difficulties, including in its parent company,

meant that it could not pay the premium it had promised to the Government. National Express then took over, only to hand back the keys two years later because of losses. It had tried to renegotiate the contract but the Transport Secretary at the time refused, saying "I'm simply not prepared to bail out companies that are unable to meet their commitments." Having been faced with two private franchise failures, the then Labour Government decided to take the line into public ownership and run it directly as East Coast Trains. It was a great success which paid back over £1 billion to the Government over the course of five and a half years. Now you might have thought the incoming Tory Government would have been happy to carry on with this arrangement - not least because it was making money at a time when the public finances were under pressure - but no. Ideological purity was apparently more important than common sense, so ministers announced that the franchise would

be put out to tender once again. Anyone could bid to run the service including stateowned railway companies from the rest of Europe - with just one exception. Hilary Benn MP The British stateowned company, East Coast Trains, which had actually been running the line for the past five years, was told that it could not put in a bid. Extraordinary! And so Virgin East Coast won the right to run the service, only for it too to run into difficulties. And so in November, ministers quietly announced that Virgin East Coast will be allowed to walk away from the deal three years early. It had been due to operate the line until 2023, paying sums to the Government for the privilege, but now they will be let off and the franchise will be replaced by a public-private partnership in 2020. Chris Grayling

has done what his predecessor Andrew Adonis refused to do - in effect bail out a failing private sector bid. There's a bigger issue here. What the history of the east coast line shows is that the private franchising model is broken. Fares are too high and complicated, and the system should be fully integrated so we don't have to worry about using an East Coast ticket on Hull Trains. I think it's time that all the franchises were brought back into public ownership to join the tracks which are already in public hands. We could call it British Railways. Now where have I heard that before?

Eco homes to be built in Hunslet

Sustainable urban developer Citu has unveiled the first CGIs and detailed designs for its groundbreaking Citu Home – a new timber framed housing system which will create one of the most airtight and energy efficient homes in the world. The Citu Home, which has been developed in partnership with Leeds Beckett University, will be a game changer in the fight against climate change. It will offer unrivalled energy performance – up to ten times more energy efficient than a standard modern UK home alongside a factory-built technique which will allow Leeds-based Citu to manufacture the homes on a massscale, creating a climate conscious solution to the UK’s housing crisis. The homes will be built on site at the developer’s Climate Innovation District in Hunslet; the UK’s first urban low carbon neighbourhood and the first ecologically pioneering District of its scale in Europe. The District, which straddles the River Aire, will feature more than 500 low carbon Citu Homes including apartments and houses, alongside manufacturing, leisure, offices and climate resilient public realm in the heart of city’s landmark South Bank regeneration project. The Climate Innovation District is located at Clarence Road in Hunslet, between the Royal Armouries Museum and the John Smeaton A61 flyover. A mix of 1, 2, 3 and 4-bedroom homes, based around a Scandinavian model of medium density urban housing, will be manufactured at its purpose-built on-site factory, Citu Works. Once fully

CGI of riverfront housing in Citu’s Climate Innovation District operational, Citu Works has the capacity to produce up to 750 low carbon homes each year for future developments across the UK, reducing the carbon footprint of the construction process by 24,000 tonnes annually (compared to traditional construction methods) and giving Citu complete control over quality and energy performance. Chris Thompson, founder and managing director of Citu said: “The Citu Home, and the wider Climate Innovation District, represent a pioneering new approach to house building in this country which is one of the biggest causes of carbon emissions. The self-build market has been able to design energy efficient homes for a while now, but no one is doing it on a mass-scale and without a big change, the UK is not going to meet its ambitious targets for either new housing or reducing carbon emissions. “We want to disrupt the construction industry which has fallen behind other sectors in terms of innovation and productivity. With

our approach, every new-build housing development could be designed and manufactured in a way that accelerates the transition to low carbon cities. To put it in perspective, if the Government’s target of 300,000 new homes built every year by 2050 were manufactured using our Citu Home design, we could reduce carbon emissions by more than 550 million tonnes compared to conventional methods of construction.” As part of Citu’s long-term plan for the District to become completely sustainable, each resident will become a member of a Community Interest Company (CIC) which will take over when the development is fully sold. The CIC will own the land, infrastructure and renewable energy systems within the development. All energy produced from the homes’ solar panels will enter a community network and the CIC will buy electricity from the National Grid to supplement it. The CIC then bills each residence according to its energy usage, with excess energy sold back to the grid and the profits

used to invest back into the CIC. The first 18 Citu Homes have now been released for sale, and include three 4-bedroom home layouts which range from £330,000 to £390,000, featuring a mix of spacious double bedrooms, large open-plan kitchens with light wells extending from the ground floor through to the second-floor ceiling, roof terraces and en-suites. The homes are due to be completed early 2018. Each Citu Home will feature: • Rainwater and storm water collection as part of a sustainable, integrated urban drainage system • A specialist Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery system which reduces heat loss and improves energy efficiency; with more than 90% of heat transferred from exiting stale air to incoming fresh air • Cycle storage provision with cycle paths incorporated into the wider development which is just a six-minute bike ride into the city centre along the river • Smart-Home digital technology which enables residents to have full control of their energy consumption at the touch of a button via a desktop, tablet or smart phone • Many homes feature solar panels which will generate electricity connected to a smart district grid that controls and monitors district energy systems across the development • Riverside homes will feature green roofs and surfaces to increase amenity, biodiversity and reduce flood risk and overheating in summer

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News 3

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Centre back in community hands

Geoff Byers (centre) with L-R: Emma, Carol, Ivy, Cllr Kim Groves, Rose and Ronnie.

by Jeremy Morton A thriving community centre in Belle Isle is celebrating after a long fight to establish ownership of their building. Manorfield Hall on Newhall Road has always been owned by the community, but for years they couldn’t prove it. Ten years after Secretary Manager Geoff Byers first asked to see the deeds and with the help of Cllr Kim Groves, Leeds City Council have accepted that they only own the land and not the building. When I visited, the main hall was full of toddlers enjoying their Christmas Party and someone was getting free legal advice from Ison Harrison in the small room. The hall was built in 1994 with a government grant, but was seriously vandalised in 2000. Geoff, who had been calling bingo since it opened, was asked to get it back up and running again. This was no small job as at first they couldn’t get any insurance. Slowly but surely Geoff with his wife Ivy and other members of

January 2018 | South Leeds Life

the committee built up contacts and started activities. Line dancing and mums and tots at first, later followed by computer classes, art, zumba and martial arts. “We are all volunteers” Geoff explained. “We’ve had great support over the years from the local Councillors and from local businesses such as Gala Bingo whose staff came and redecorated the hall for us. “We’ve been knocked back so many times over the years, but I’m over the moon that it is ours now.” Leeds City Council has agreed to grant a 21 year lease on the land giving the charity security of tenure. Cllr Kim Groves said: “I’m really pleased for Geoff that after years of struggling to get this sorted out it has finally been resolved. Manorfield Hall is a valuable community asset. The committee run a busy programme solely on passion and believe – they are all volunteers.” Activities and Evenys Coordinator Emma Pogson-Golden

explains that they plan to fill the gaps in the current timetable with more activities and aim for the centre to be open 9am-5pm every day. “Sorting out the ownership will unlock more funding for us. We have already submitted bids to revamp the kitchen and dance floor and we are keen to brighten up the outside of the building and make it more welcoming” she explained enthusiastically. “I’m trying to carry on Geoff’s legacy now that his health isn’t so good, but he’s there to keep me in check if I get too carried away.” Belle Isle TMO have confirmed that their Board have approved a grant as part of the Council's Housing Advisory Panel awards for the essential improvements mentioned. BITMO also said that they are looking forward to continuing their work with Manorfield Hall in 2018 The future looks bright for Manorfield Hall. You can find out more details of activities on their website at: manorfieldhall.com or find them on Facebook.

2018: a year to volunteer Are you thinking about your New Year’s resolutions? Are you looking forward to this summer’s community galas? South Leeds has a brilliant range of events through the summer months and planning for them has already started. It takes months of prearation to make sure everything runs smoothly on the day. Have you thought about offering your skills and energy Volunteers at Beeston Festival last year to help a hard pressed

committee make their event even better? If you can’t commit that much time, how about vonuteering to help on the day. There’s a lot of work involved in setting up - and clearing up afterwards. As the saying goes: “many hands make light work.” Contact your local gala through their website or Facebook page - they’ll be glad to hear from you!

Tell us about your group to win a grant

South Leeds Life has partnered with St Luke’s CARES to support their new Community Awards grant scheme. Three groups will win a cash grant, but every group that enters will get some free publicity. We wanted to simplify the application process and make sure everyone is a winner. So all you have to do is write a short article about your group and EVERY application will be published online at southleedslife.com In the next stage we will send a reporter to write an article about the shortlisted projects which will be published in the newspaper. Finally, customers at St Luke’s CARES’ Dewsbury Road shop will vote for the winners. So don’t leave it to the last moment, start gathering your thoughts, think how you could spend your grant and get writing your article now!

Writing tips • Writing an article is about telling a story. Don’t worry about your writing skills, just tell your story! • Remember to answer the three questions: 1. Tell us about the project you are nominating 2. Tell us what work it does in the local community 3. Tell us about how it would spend the cash! • Remember the 5 W’s (and 1 H): Who? Who are the people in the group? Who are you helping? What? What is the project? What will you do with the grant? Where? Where does you group work? When? When did the group start? When do your activities take place? Why? Why is your projects needed? How? How does your group help people? • Keep to the 500 word limit, but don’t worry if you can tell your story in fewer words. • Include a photo or two showing what your group does, or the issue you want to address. • You can upload your article straight to the website or email it to: info@southleedslife.com • It’s often easier to write your article in a Word document and then cut and paste the finished article • The closing date is 28th February (5pm).

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South Leeds Life | January 2018

4 News

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Beeston’s clock New is ticking again

Vicar of Beeston, Rev Lindsey Pearson and Sean Sturman from Save Our Beeston and Holbeck The clock on St Mary’s was built. Church in Beeston is fully Save Our Beeston and repaired and refurbished Holbeck followed up with a Christmas fundraising drive, thanks to local fundraisers. The clock had been out of raising a further £4,000. The action for some years when money was distributed via local Lindsey Pearson, the Vicar of schools as vouchers for struggling families and Beeston, started fundraising. for school Local Facebook group ‘Save donations Our Beeston and Holbeck’ took equipment. Donations were also made to up the challenge and raised £3,000 towards the cost of the the South Leeds Live At Home Scheme and Holbeck Elderly restoration. The clock, made by the Aid. Sean Sturman from Save Our famous Leeds clockmaker Thomas Potts, dates back to Beeston and Holbeck praised the 1870s when the church the generosity of local people.

Centre to meet dementia needs

New complex needs day centres for people with dementia launched. The first of a series of Complex Needs Centres run by Leeds City Council across the city has opened in east Leeds. The innovative service is designed to support people in their local community. It will be followed later this year by a similar centre at Laurel Bank in Middleton. The official opening ceremony of Wykebeck Valley

Complex Needs Centre took place on 12 December 2017. The former day centre has been transformed and upgraded to become a complex needs and dementia service, with extra investment in staffing meaning an intensive package of care and support can be provided to the growing numbers of people with dementia who otherwise might need residential or nursing care to be provided.

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trees for Belle Isle

On Saturday 2 December national charity, Trees for Cities, working in partnership with Leeds City Council, rounded off a busy National Tree Week by planting the first of 13,000 trees at Old Run Road playing fields in Belle Isle, to create diverse urban woodland which will breathe new life into the local community. This area of green space is bordered by the busy M621 motorway, a large industrial area, residential housing and a secondary academy. The trees will improve connectivity, linking two areas of mature woodland and add important diversity to the tree population in terms of both age and species. The trees will also form a buffer for the school and housing, helping screen noise and mitigating air pollution from the motorway and industrial area. The planting day saw local volunteers, Councillors Judith Blake, Paul Truswell, Kim Groves and the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Cllr Jane Dowson, all come together to plant the new trees, highlighting the important relationship our neighbourhoods have with their trees and green spaces. A volunteer at the planting day said: “The best thing about planting trees is creating habitat for wildlife and people!” The project is being delivered through a partnership between Trees for Cities and Leeds City Council, and coincides with the local ‘Love Where You Live’ campaign, which promotes

Tree planting off Old Run Road community pride and cohesion to make Belle Isle and Middleton a safer, cleaner and happier place to be. Cllr Judith Blake, Leader of Leeds City Council, said: “It is great to be able to join in with people around the country planting trees, which not only make a difference to the air we breathe, but also makes the area a nicer place to live, helping with wider health and economic benefits. We know trees also have a role to play in flood prevention, something the city is encouraging on a wider basis. “We’ve worked closely with people from around the area to make sure the trees are in the right place, linking with areas used for playing fields and helping shield schools and houses from noise and pollution.” The site for this project was identified by Leeds City Council, in consultation with local councillors, residents and other stakeholders. The planting design is such that open spaces will be left and not

environments are associated with good health and wellbeing, improvements ranging from better mental health outcomes, to associations with increased healthy behaviours. By engaging local people in creating the new woodland, we hope to bring neighbours together to make a positive change to their local environment, ensuring a sense of local ownership a pride in creation of this new space, which ultimately will be for all to enjoy. Tree species have been selected for their compatibility with both the ground conditions and the surrounding landscape. Wherever possible, locally sourced trees will be planted. 14 different species will be planted including Alder, Birch, Goat Willow, Oak, Wild Cherry, Crab Apple, Field Maple and Scots Pine. Further planting days for local schools, businesses and volunteer groups will take place in the run up to Christmas. Planting is expected to be completed by the New Year.

affect existing use of the site, e.g., for dog walkers, sports etc. Planting at this location has great environmental benefit, improving woodland connectivity, linking two areas of mature woodland and adding important diversity to the tree population in terms of both age and species. The trees will additionally form a buffer for the school and housing, to help screen noise and mitigate air pollution from the motorway and industrial area. This scheme is fully in line with Leeds City Council’s aim to increase the City’s tree canopy cover as part of a multidisciplinary approach to adapt to the challenges of air pollution and reduce flooding. Beyond the environmental benefits, there are significant social benefits, with evidence showing that biodiverse Cllrs Truswell, Blake and Groves plus Lord Mayor Cllr Dowson joined volunteers natural

Temple Works sold to developer In a dramatic development, just 24 hours before the historic Temple Works in Holbeck was due to be auctioned, property developer CEG has bought the property. The Grade 1 listed flax spinning mill designed in the style of an Egyptian temple was to go under the hammer on 7 December and could have sold for as little as £1. It is estimated that £20 million needs to be spent on the building just to make it structurally sound, but the worry was that an unscrupulous buyer might buy it and let it deteriorate further. Ahead of the auction Leeds City Council issued a planning position statement setting out what they would and would not support in terms of future use. Many saw this as a shot across the bows of ‘cowboy’ developers. CEG are the developers

behind a large scale mixed use scheme on land near Water Lane and Globe Road in Holbeck. We reported recently on their planning application. Leeds Civic Trust have commented favourably about the sale saying on Twitter: “Purchase of Temple Works, Leeds. Our view in a nutshell. Good news. @CEGSouthbank a serious developer with resources who have shown long term commitment to Leeds. Any urgent works should be done, then dialogue needed about sustainable future use.” Cllr Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council said: “It’s a very positive step that new owners have been secured for the historic Grade One Listed Temple Works. We will look to work collaboratively with CEG to bring this important part of Leeds’ heritage back in to use and secure its long-term future.”

Temple Works in Holbeck. Photo: Russell James Smith vis Creative Commons

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South Leeds Life | January 2018

6 News

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Changes amongst South Leeds Councillors in May

South Leeds will see some changes amongst its representatives on Leeds City Council next May even if Labour hold onto all nine local seats. The Labour Party has been holding meetings in each ward to select the candidates that

will fight the local election on 3 May 2018. Next May’s elections are unusual in that all 99 seats on the council are up for election, so each ward has selected three candidates. Councillors Adam Ogilvie and David Congreve in Beeston & Holbeck ward had signalled some time ago that they would stand down this year. South Leeds Life understands that Cllr Patrick Davey was not nominated. The Labour Party has selected the following candidates in our three wards: Beeston & Holbeck ward • Angela Gabriel • Gohar Almass Khan • Andrew Scopes

Hunslet & Riverside ward • Mohammed Iqbal • Elizabeth Nash • Paul Wray

you can set up a standing order payment to South Leeds Life Group, Sort code: 08-92-99; Account number: 65591910; please use your surname as the reference and email us let us know at info@southleedslife.com. Thank you and thanks to our readers who are already subscribing: Karen Beckford Hilary Benn Amanda Binns Elaine Bower Asa Britton Andy Brown AD Brown David Bushell Ed Carlisle SJ Carlisle Barbara Cavell Rachel Dalton Bruce Davies Mark Day Audrey Dickenson C Fletcher Angela Gabriel Al Garthwaite Julie Gill Alicia Giscombe Keith Hitchiner Becky Howcroft

Cross Flatts Park gets a makeover

Middleton Park ward • Judith Blake • Kim Groves • Paul Truswell Of course other political parties will be fielding candidates in the May elections so there is no guarantee that these candidates will be Councillors on 4 May. South Leeds Life will bring you full details of all the candidates standing for all parties in our May newspaper as well as online. South Leeds Life does not support any political party, but we urge our readers to use their vote in the May elections.

Keep the news free: take out a subscription South Leeds Life has been providing a free news service to the area for seven years online and three years as a monthly print newspaper. It’s important to us to offer a free service as we know that money is very tight for many families in our communities. We want to be as accessible as possible, so we have no plans to start charging. But producing the news has costs. There are running costs for the website, printing and other costs. Most of our writers are volunteers, but we have a full time Editor to keep the wheels turning. We get some income from grants and from advertising, but our most stable income comes from our readers who have joined our pound-a-week subscription scheme. The many payments of £4 each month is money we can literally bank on. South Leeds has a great tradition of solidarity. We’ve reported many times on fundraising initiatives to help community members in their time of need. Please consider showing that generosity again by taking out a £4 per month standing order to South Leeds Life. In doing so you will be supporting your neighbours who can’t afford it by keeping them informed and keeping the news free. As well as getting that warm glow we will deliver your paper to your door each month. If you have online banking

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Ken Ingram Pat Jackson Frances Jones Rosalinda Kincaid Toby Lloyd AM Marsh Adam Ogilvie Lindsey Pearson Lucy Potter AR Price Alan Shaw Bob Shaw Linda Stanley Steve Thompson Jackson Turner Andrew Wilson Peter Wood Paul Wray We also run an sponsorship scheme for organisations who can get profile articles and advertising as part of their package. We are are especially grateful to our Gold Sponsors: Health For All and The Hunslet Club; Our Silver Sponsors: Building Blocks nursery; and our Bronze Sponsors: Belle Isle TMO; Vera Media and SLATE. Organisation sponsorship packages start at £60 per year.

Ideas board showing the types of equipment to be installed in the playground Cross Flatts Park in Beeston Two have been sited in Cross “Helping people feel safe in will see improvents to paths Flatts Park, near the Watsonian their local communities is and play equipment in 2018 Pavilion and the Maud Avenue incredibly important and we and is already benefiting from entrance, with a third on were very happy to be able to extra security provided by new Tempest Road. help fund these new cameras. We can now report that the “Anti-social behaviour is CCTV cameras. The middle playground, just cameras have been installed something that no one should have to put up with and we are above the multi use games and are fully operational. Local residents had hopeful that the new CCTV will areas, is to be extended and have new equipment installed. approached the Councillors make people think twice before Currently the park’s two with concerns over anti-social they act in such a way.” City and Hunslet Councillor playgrounds cater separately behaviour and drug dealing in for for toddlers and older the area. Working alongside Elizabeth Nash said: “Local residents have children, which causes partners it was decided that problems for parents with CCTV would be the most approached us on numerous effective deterrent to these occasions asking what can be children of different ages. New equipment in the middle types of behaviour and it is done to help combat the playground will be suitable for hoped that local residents and concerns they had relating to use by a wider range of children businesses will benefit from unacceptable behaviour and from toddlers to teenagers. It improved safety in the area and drug dealing in the area. CCTV captures events as they will include new climbing reductions in crime levels. Councillor Angela Gabriel happen and can be vital in both frames, swings and slides as well as new benches and bins. (Beeston & Holbeck and Chair monitoring activity but also Councillors from Beeston & of the Inner South Community identifying the individuals involved.” Holbeck and City & Hunslet Committee) said: wards, which border the park, have allocated £50,000 from the Inner South Community Committee Wellbeing Budget towards the costs. Groundwork, who will project manage the work have secured further funding. Work to the paths, largely on the west (Co-op) side of the park, will cost a further £40,000. This has come from Section 106 payments contributions from new developments in the two wards towards community infrastructure. All the works are expected to be completed by summer 2018. Back in March we reported that £50,000 from the Wellbeing Budget had been Councillors Elizabeth Nash, Mohammed Iqbal, Angela Gabriel and allocated to fund three CCTV Adam Ogilvie by one of the new cameras in Cross Flatts Park cameras in Beeston.

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News 7

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Celebrating women’s achievement at Asha

Over 100 women have gained qualifications with Asha Neighbourhood Project this year and the Lord Mayor of Leeds was on hand to award the certificates. The Lord Mayor, Cllr Jane Dowson was attending the Beeston charity’s 31st Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Tuesday 12 December 2017. Addressing the meeting she said: “Asha is an organisation that weaves communities together, thank you for all you do for Leeds and the local community.” Asha operate a range of services from their Stratford Street base including advice, advocacy and support; education; children’s activities and pre-school. They are also involved in a number of partnerships including the Better Together service with Health For All and Hamara; and the Women’s Lives Leeds project

January 2018 | South Leeds Life

Cllr Elizabeth Nash, Cllr Mohammed Iqbal and Lord Mayor Cllr Jane Dowson with successful learners from the Asha Neighbourhood Project in which Asha is one of words and added: “I’m delighted that our preeleven partners across the “For those who English is a school was rated Good by city. second language it’s very Ofsted this year. Childcare is Courses at Asha include easy to get isolated and stuck often a barrier to women English for Speakers of Other at home. Having somewhere accessing training and Languages (ESOL), sewing, like Asha to go is so education. cooking, computers, important, it empowers “Thank you to all our childcare, supporting women and improves their partners, funders and teaching a learning. health.” members – you are all Cllr Mohammed Iqbal Afia Khattun, Chair of Asha helping us to continue echoed the Lord Mayor’s commented: enriching our community.”

Reference group helps monitor sex work area

Problems associated with street prostitution in Holbeck continue, but agencies including the Police and Cleansing have increased their activity and there is improved dialogue between residents and agencies. Since we reported on the public meeting on 3 October, a Reference Group has been established to enable dialogue between Holbeck residents and agencies in the area. The ‘Managed Approach’ tolerates some sex work in industrial parts of Holbeck between certain hours in an attempt to keep the long running problem away from residential streets. The Council and the Police came under fire from residents at the October meeting who said the approach simply wasn’t working. The Reference group involves members of the Facebook Group ‘Save Our Eyes’, St Luke’s Church, St Luke’s Primary School, the Holbeck Neighbourhood Plan group, Unity Housing Association, Police Officers and Councillors. Since October both the Police and Cleansing have set up dedicated teams to work both in the managed area itself and in surrounding hot spots. A weekly bulletin is being

A sex worker plying her trade on a residential street circulated with information about incidences to the dedicated mobile what actions each agency has taken phone number - 07534 309568 - as including removing used condoms, all intelligence is acted upon and needles and other drug can often help the police build up a paraphernalia; enforcement action clearer picture of unlawful activity taken against women breaching the within the area.” terms of the managed area and Leeds City Council have organised Three monitored CCTV cameras a follow up residents meeting in have been installed in the managed Holbeck to provide feedback on the area and are now operational. It is work which has taken place since hoped these will give confidence the 3rd October public meeting. both to the sex workers and to staff The meeting will take place on of businesses in the area. Tuesday 16 January at St Matthew A spokesperson for Safer Leeds Community Centre at 7.30pm. said: As agreed in October, Senior “It is really important that the Councillors, Officers and Senior community continue to report any Police will be present.

Snow business

Heavy falls of snow on Friday 29 December brought some Twixtmas joy to South Leeds. The snow may have stayed less than 24 hours, but kids of all ages across South Leeds took the opportunity to build snowmen, toboggan and have snowball fights. Reader Al Garthwaite was walking with her grandchildren in Cross Flatts Park, Beeston when she came across this igloo and its proud team of builders. Children will be hoping for more snow in the coming weeks, but looking at the long range weather forecast it appears to be far from certain.

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South Leeds Life | January 2018

8 News

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New affordable Ten things we learned housing for about Aspiring Middleton

Communities’ plans by Jeremy Morton

Leeds Federated Housing Association has applied for planning permission to build 18 new affordable homes on vacant land off Acre Road in Middleton. The plans include 2 fourbedroom houses, 8 three-bedroom houses and 8 two-bedroom houses. Every

house will have its own garden and two off road parking spaces. The site is next to the derelict Tivoli cinema, which also has planning permission for housing. The site was formerly occupied by council housing, now demolished.

Resident parking scheme goes live

Communter parking on Holbeck Moor Road Photo: Jeremy Morton A parking scheme for Holbeck residents went live on Monday 18 December, after local Councillors Angela Gabriel, Adam Ogilvie and David Congreve pushed for the move. The introduction means that commuters will no longer be able to take advantage of the proximity to the city centre of Holbeck’s residential areas. The scheme has been introduced in response to requests from residents of (amongst some others) Ingram Gardens, Balm Walk, Meynell Approach, Jenkinson Close, Ninevah Parade/Gardens and Sandlewood Close/Gardens. The parking scheme has been prepared in consultation

with residents and councillors and consists of permit parking for residents with some additional waiting restrictions to protect junctions. The scheme also allows for some limited waiting near to business premises. Beeston and Holbeck Councillor Angela Gabriel said: “We have worked hard to ensure that a parking scheme that is fair on local residents is implemented. Myself and my ward colleagues Adam Ogilvie and David Congreve are really pleased that this scheme is now going live and that local residents will no longer have to compete for parking space with commuters.”

One hundred people attended a meeting on Sunday 10 December to find our more about Aspiring Communities’ (AC) controversial plans for the Ice Pak site on Barkly Road. The meeting, organised by Aspiring Communities and held at Beeston Parish Centre, set out to answer residents’ questions about the group’s plans. An independent chair Abdul Rahim kept what was at times a fractious meeting on track. Here’s what we learned: 1. Asbestos was removed safely Four years ago one of the buildings on site was demolished for safety reasons. The building contained an amount of asbestos cement which AC maintain was properly removed from the site. AC will bring documentation to a scheduled meeting with Save Our Beeston and Councillors this week and have offered to email the documentation to anyone who asks. Consultant Neil Hardy explained to the meeting that the asbestos at Ice Pak was white asbestos, not as dangerous or blue or brown asbestos and was bound into the cement. In his opinion it posed a minimal risk. The contractors did not inform Leeds City Council or the Health & Safety Executive because they were not required

to, given the type of asbestos and the regulations in force at the time. 2. The centre will open in 2020 AC plan to start some activities in the building fronting Barkly Road early in 2018 (this building will eventually be demolished). Work on the car park is expected to start in February 2019 and the centre is due to open in 2020.

the Planning Inspector found that AC had gone well beyond what most developers do including regular attendance at Beeston Community Forum. 5. Women will not have to use a separate entrance to the building The centre will have three elements: the sports/community hall on the ground floor; a multi faith room; and an Islamic prayer room. Only the Islamic prayer room

Controversial: the Ice Pak site on Barkly Road, Beeston 3. How AC chooses contractors and advisors AC said it chooses reputable, independent professional contractors to advise it and carry out work on its behalf. For example the traffic study was undertaken by Amey, a large, well respected, firm who were “neither the cheapest, nor the most expensive.” 4. You can never consult enough Many people in the room accused AC of not consulting local people properly and yet

will be segregated with separate entrances for men and women in line with Muslim culture. These arrangements have been approved as part of the planning permission. 6. Why no parties? AC scaled back their original plans for the site as a result of early consultation with residents and planners, that included using the site for weddings and other parties. However it will be available for children’s parties. 7. Poor communicators

AC accepted that they had not communicated their plans and intentions as well as they might have over the last four years. 8. Multi Faith Room free to hire The Multi Faith Room will be available to use, free of charge and books about all faiths will be welcomed. 9. Project will cost £3-5m The centre is expected to cost between £3-5 million to build. AC have raised £1 million so far, but paused their fundraising during the planning dispute. 10. Liaison group has started meeting A liaison group set up by Councillors has held its first meeting. The meeting was attended by representatives from AC, Save Our Beeston, Beeston Community Hub, Beeston Community Forum. A range of issues was aired and all parties agreed to draw a line and move forward. Cllr Angela Gabriel commented: “We’ve had our first meeting which was well attended. It has given us a positive way forward.” AC’s architects are currently working through the conditions placed on the planning approval. The next meeting of the liaison group will be attended by planning officers and the architects, where they will explain the next steps of the development.

Building homes and community A new local committee is forming with the goal of improving home ownership, quality affordable housing and better community cohesion in the LS11 area. The LS11 RTO Housing Scheme is working with The National Community Land Trust Network and other organisations to achieve its goals. The scheme is being established as a communityled initiative designed to address the current and future housing needs of the LS11 area. The Rent To Own (RTO) housing scheme is designed for

individuals and couples who would like to buy a home or get onto the housing ladder. The scheme is proposed to provide high quality and appropriate affordable housing, for life, for individuals, couples and families within local communities. Presently there are a number of positions available on the steering committee now being formed and we invite any suitable or interested candidates from the LS11 area, to get in touch. • Chairperson (Pending candidate confirmation) • Vice Chairperson • Secretary/Administrator

We look forward to your participation and please feel free to circulate this information to any suitable person that may be interested. LS11 RTO Housing Scheme

Project Management STORM Global Network Tel: (0113) 440 1380 Email: storminfo@mail.com Website: www.stormglobalnetwork.org

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Remembering our lost children led by Father Andy Myers, who stressed that everyone was welcome, from any faith or none. The focus of the service was family members lighting candles for their

by Jeremy Morton

He described names as including essential spiritual essence of the person and that candles are a symbol of light in the darkness. He then read out the

It’s often said that Christmas is a time for children, so how do you cope at this time of year if you’ve lost a child? The Middletonbased charity Charlies-Angel-Centre Foundation teamed up with St Cross Church in Middleton for the second year to host a Christmas Memorial Service. About fifty people attended the service on Thursday 14 December. They were mothers, Candles were lit for children who have died fathers, brothers, sisters, loved one. names of children we had grandparents, friends of Father Myers reminded us lost and a candle was lit for children who had died that the importance of names each and every one of them. tragically young. and candles goes back for It was particularly moving The simple ceremony was millennia of humans history. when Kyle Asquith’s name

was read out and a large number of people came forward to light a candle. Both family members and class mates of the boy from Cockburn School who died very suddenly in 2013, but who saved five people’s lives through organ donation. Closing the service, Ruth from the charity said: “I hope you can have as good a Christmas as you can. Hold hands and stick together.” I can only imagine what it must be like to lose your child, but it was clear that those that had found support in the service and the friendship of others that have walked in their shoes.

Santa comes to Hugh Gaitskell

On Tuesday 5 December staff and children at Hugh Gaitskell Primary School, St Anthony’s Drive, Beeston hosted a new look Christmas Fair. Santa paid a special visit in his extraordinary, newly constructed grotto and there were stalls and games a-plenty for everyone to enjoy. The fair was attended by the vast majority of parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles and friends and over £500 was raised to put towards the development of the main playground. The fair was well

January 2018 | South Leeds Life

supported by local businesses including Teaching Personnel, Shine Nail Bar, MacDonald’s Elland Road, Protocol Education, Hays, Co-op Beeston and Parc Supplies who made generous donations. Well done to all concerned – look out for news events at school by following us on Twitter @HughGaitskellPS. You can also download our free app on your mobile ‘phone or tablet. This will keep you updated with current news including our weekly newsletter.

Santa at Hugh Gaitskell Primary School

Mill tenants give gifts for children fleeing violence

Lisa Riley from Marshall’s Mill and Aimee Boyce from Round Foundry Media Centre with the presents under the tree Business tenants at Marshall’s particularly if their father has been Mill and the Round Foundry Media controlling or vindictive. Centre in Holbeck presented staff “We asked Lisa to collect from Leeds Women’s Aid with presents for teenagers because hundreds of presents for children they often get overlooked in our staying in the refuge over general appeal. Teenage children can be particularly fragile having Christmas. This is the third year that the broken links with friends, cut off collection has been organised by social media ties and lost their Front of House, Receptionist and bedroom. If they have a bad Events Co-ordinator at Marshall’s experience at Christmas and feel excluded, they can put pressure on Mill, Lisa Riley. “The tenants have been mum to return to an abusive fantastic again and very generous” relationship. “Leeds Women’s Aid is very she said. “It’s interesting how many people who work here have grateful for the generosity of the friends or family members who businesses in Holbeck. It means a have had to use Leeds Women’s lot to our families that they know there is someone out there who Aid services.” One of the workers from cares about them.” Lisa added: “On Christmas Day I Women’s Aid explained how think about the children at the important the donations were: “This means everything. The refuge opening their presents. It’s women and children at the refuge good to know I’ve helped improve have left their homes, they often the day for someone in very have financial problems, they have difficult circumstances.” You can donate money to Leeds no contact with friends and families, so to get these lovely Women’s Aid via their website at: presents makes the difference www.leedswomensaid.co.uk If you or someone you know is in between having a Christmas, or an abusive relationship you can having no Christmas. “For some children these will be call the Leeds Women’s Aid 24 the best presents they’ve ever had, hour helpline on (0113) 246 0401.

Lantern Festival lights Caitlin the fundraiser up Cross Flatts Park

A crisp, cold night didn’t deter the crowds as hundreds flocked to Cross Flatts Park on Friday 8 December for the 5th annual Lantern Festival. Carols were led by the Salvation Army Band, farmyard animals were petted and people explored the Christmas Story in the Millennium Garden. The event was funded by the Ineer South Community Committee and the Salvation Army and organised by The Church Together in Leeds 11.

Crowds enjoy the Salvation Army Band

Caitlin, who is 15 years old, from Middleton and attends Cockburn School, recently organised a tombola and online auction to raise over £200 for Middleton Elderly Aid. Cllr Kim Groves said: “As Ward Councillor I wanted to say a big thank you to Caitlin for thinking about elderly people in her community and for raising funds to provide support services at Middleton Elderly Aid. “We as a community should be proud of Caitlin and the many young people who live and care about people in Belle Isle and Middleton. “I know there are many so let’s start sharing all the positive action and support future generations.”

Caitlin with her tombola stall

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Christmas roundup 11

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Holbeck’s elderly march on Generations go DePuy hosts old and young BITMOs GATE’s together with Leeds United Boomchikkaboom Christmas Fayre at Pennington Court Kerry Seymour from DePuy explained that Corporate Social The canteen at DePuy Synthes’ Responsibility is an important Beeston factory was filled with part of the company’s ethos: over 100 members of the South “Giving back to the community Leeds Live at Home Scheme is really important and we like to (SLLaH) and the choir from Hugh get involved with organisations Gaitskell Primary School on we’re supporting. For example we Thursday 14 December for their support Holbeck Food Bank and our volunteers are currently out annual Christmas celebration. This was the fifth Christmas delivering food parcels for them. dinner the company has hosted, The Shine Nail Bar comes here but its involvement with SLLaH, once a week so that staff can buy which supports older people in their services. We’ve also Beeston, Cottingley and Hunslet, supported Beeston Festival over is not just for Christmas. DePuy’s many years.” De Puy’s partnership with the Build Your Team community activities have helped SLLaH with neighbouring Hugh Gaitskell gardening projects, work at St Primary School goes back even Andrew’s Church, their allotment longer. Kerry is a Governor at the and running the Big Tea Party school and the company’s support ranges from staff event. listening to children read, through to supporting residential trips. And for 15 years the pupils have come into the factory to sing carols and receive a Christmas dinner and a Christmas jumper. Deputy Headteacher Jacquie Padgett said: “DePuy’s support has Pupils from Hugh Gaitskell Primary School enjoy lunch before singing carols been really fantastic.

by Jeremy Morton

long-standing Leeds United fans and the partnership comes ahead of proposals to build the new training ground right opposite the home of HEA. The partnership will see Leeds United supporting HEA in a number of activities including the launch of its Challenge 500 initiative, which invites individuals and companies to donate £500 to support the charity in its vital work, by offering hospitality and match tickets as part of an annual prize draw. HEA also supports the wider community of Holbeck which falls into the one per cent of most deprived neighbourhoods in England. Commenting on the partnership between HEA and Leeds United, Chief Officer, Elissa Newman said: “We’re delighted to be James Mooney, Alan Scorfield, teaming up with Elissa Newman, Hilary Benn MP Leeds United

Leeds United Football Club has hosted a very special lunch to celebrate its new community partnership with not-forprofit organisation, Holbeck Elderly Aid (HEA). The club welcomed HEA service users to Elland Road for the lunch where they were joined by HEA’s Patron, Hilary Benn MP. Holbeck Elderly Aid (HEA), an organisation supporting the most vulnerable and socially isolated older people in Holbeck has been selected as one of the club’s charity partners as part of its ongoing commitment to CSR in the local area. Many service users at HEA are

HEA members chat to Hilary Benn MP ahead of lunch Football Club as part of its CSR programme and our commitment to supporting those in need in the Holbeck area. There’s great synergy between HEA and the club in terms of its commitment to grass roots initiatives and the work we do on the ground in Holbeck. “Working with such a prominent partner brings huge benefits for our organisation and helps to guarantee the long-term sustainability of our charity and the vital work we do. We’re excited to see what the future brings in terms of ongoing support from

the club and its partners and we’d like to thank the team for hosting such a wonderful lunch for our most honourable guests.” Alan Scorfield, Chief Executive at The Leeds United Foundation, said: “It’s great to give back to the local community, particularly to those who’ve supported the club for such a significant time. It was fantastic to meet some of our longest standing fans and we’re honoured that they were able to join us at the lunch which marked the first of many joint initiatives between the club and Holbeck Elderly Aid.”

It’s a Lychee Red Christmas by Jeremy Morton

Chinese community group Lychee Red held a spectacular Christmas celebration at Maxi’s restaurant on Monday 18 December. The group for Chinese elders, which recently featured on BBC’s The One Show, meets at Belle Isle Family Centre and is supported by Health For All. The group works to break down isolation within Leeds’ Chinese community and is funded through the Big Lottery Fund’s Time To Shine project. Introducing the event, Health For All’s Chief Executive, Pat McGeever, said: “We have the privilege of serving a diverse range of communities in Leeds. Lychee Red is one of the Time To Shine projects and gosh how Lychee Red has shone!” Cllr Paul Truswell, a trustee of the

Clients at Pennington Court, an award winning nursing and care home in Beeston, enjoyed a unique Boomchikkaboom children’s party experience, along with children from the nearby Flower Pots Nursery. Flower Pots Nursery are regular visitors to Pennington Court and the Boomchikkaboom team jumped at the chance to share their unique approach to children’s entertainment with the home’s older clients. The party was great fun and thoroughly enjoyed by the clients and children alike. Clients listened and joined in with the children singing and dancing and Boomchikkaboom brought the party to life with lights, pom poms and glow sticks.

Angela Randle, General Manager at Pennington Court said: “A visit from the Flower Pots children is always a highlight for our clients. It’s clear that both generations enjoy spending time together and the interaction between them is wonderful to see. We continually try to introduce new ideas and activities in to our care homes and Boomchikkaboom’s unique style of entertainment was thoroughly enjoyed by all.” Faye Kenny from Boomchikkaboom said: “We always aim to create unique and fun experiences for families, but this event really encompassed what we are all about. Care free fun for ALL. No one is ever too old, or too young for music and fun.”

by Ken Ingram

Members of the South Leeds Live At Home Scheme enjoy Christmas dinner at DePuy Synthes They support our Families & “It’s been lovely, always is. School Together (FAST) parenting They’ve surpassed themselves. project and they get really Been very welcoming.” Barbara involved with Science Week. Our and Joyce children get to visit the labs and “It’s been a proper old see the engineers at work. fashioned Christmas celebration. “Today is really important too. It’s the best thing that’s ever The children have been practising happened. I live for these for weeks and today they get to events.” Shiela , Dorren, Kim and perform, not only for the older Sandra people, but for the factory staff “It’s been very good. People are too. so lovely. Really enjoyed it. It’s “It introduces them to the world fantastic DePuy do this for us.” of work and shows a practical Anne and Barbara example of how the whole “Very good, the children singing community takes responsibility was beautiful.” Pat each other’s wellbeing.” “I thought it was good last year, As for the older people, these but this year was even better.” are just a few of their comments: Gordon

Sshhhhh…. Beeston Primary’s Special Visitor!

There was much excitement at Beeston Primary School when Santa Claus took time out of his busy schedule to visit the children. Over two days, Santa worked really hard to listen to the wishes of over three hundred and seventy two children; they all received a chocolate gift and a personalised photo with the great man himself.

Mr Edensor the Headteacher said: “Our Grotto was amazing! The staff worked really hard to ensure the experience was special for all . It was great to see the awe and wonder on the children’s faces. Santa was so impressed with the behaviour of our children, he has already agreed to come back and visit next year!“

Beeston Primary School’s Winter Wonderland Grotto

I went along to the BITMOs GATE annual Christmas Fayre, on Saturday 16 December. The centre was already packed with about 80 people waiting for Santa to arrive and give out presents to the children, includuding some adults who sneaked into the Grotto. Thanks go to Jonathan our DJ playing Christmas songs, and the odd joke.

and look forward to seeing pictures of where I was born and brought up in Hunslet. Paula was kept busy serving hot drinks and scones. I think some of the food was made by board member, Paula. Ronnie the Rhino paid a visit much to the delight of the children, who couldn’t wait to have there picture taken with him. Where was Harry the Hawk? Our local councillors Kim Groves, Judith Blake and Paul

Santa was kept busy at BITMOs GATE The Gate was packed with stalls such as Tombola raising money for good causes. I had a go on the Tombola stall and won a Christmas present to go in Sue’s Christmas stocking. There were some stalls selling hand made crafts, which made lovely Christmas presents. There was a competition to name the Dragon, where all proceeds go to Radio Aire Cash For Kids. Well done to Steph, for raising the money.I had a go with the raffle, maybe later I’ll find out if I’ve won something. Thanks to Billy for collecting the money for the raffle prizes. I bought a Hunslet calender

Truswell came along to enjoy the festivities. Santa had now arrived along with his little helpers Carla and Donna, and the children lined up to see what Santa had brought them. I think the look on the Children’s faces said it all. Thank you to Radio Aire’s Cash 4 Kids for the presents. Members of staff said a huge thank you to all our volunteers today, and throughout the last year. For more information about the GATE and services or even if you would like to become a volunteer please contact (0113) 378 2190 or visit the Facebook page Belle Isle TMO.

St Luke’s CARES jingles all the way! Asda Beeston spreads Christmas cheer by Lucy Potter The Lychee Red Chinese Seniors Choir. Photo: Mat Dale charity, awarded certificates to volunteers who have clocked up over 600 hours between them over the last year. We then moved onto the entertainment with various dance and singing groups.

Cllr Paul Truswell celebrates Lychee Red’s volunteers

Over the course of the afternoon we heard three different renditions of Jingle Bells. Firstly in Cantonese from the Elders Choir, then in Mandarin from the Family Singing Group and finally in English from the Lychee Red Kids (who all attend Hugh Gaitskell Primary School in Beeston). In between the performances we were treated to a selection of delicious Chinese food. The White Rose barbershop singers gave us a selection of Christmas songs and the afternoon finished with the raffle. I’m now looking forward to Chinese New Year in February and another Lychee Red celebration. For more information about Lychee Red’s activities contact hua.liu@healthforall.org.uk

On Friday (15 December 2017) St Luke’s CARES charity shop on Dewsbury Road held a festive get together. This was a celebration to thank all the volunteers for their hard work (both at Dewsbury Rd and the Middleton Shop). St Luke’s CARES opens its doors to the community every day so it was no surprise to see the usual locals and shoppers joining in festive cheer, eating food and dressing up for the photo booth. One man in particular who comes in every day surprised us with ‘pitch perfect’ harmonica carolling, just before the booked entertainment Jonny Walker prepared his set for the afternoon! Amongst the customers where the lucky winners of the ‘Name the Unicorn’ competition St Luke’s had

Unicorn winners enjoy the photo booth at St Luke’s CARES

been running over the last month at both shops. Wide eyed recipients clutched at their new prize; a giant cuddly unicorn, and chose a free washing machine. During this time Cllr Angela Gabriel came to join in and won some treats on the tombola – hosted by our fantastic volunteer Rara from the Middleton shop on Throstle Lane. St Luke’s CARES currently helps support young people in the community by providing good quality second hand items at affordable prices. With a large warehouse stocking furniture and new white goods there’s always a bargain to find. St Luke’s CARES currently runs a seven week retail course above the shop (a new course is starting on Tuesday 9 January) please contact Lucy for more details.

South Leeds Live at Home Scheme (SLLaH) has been recognised for their work in the local community by Asda Beeston, who has secured £1,000 grant from the Asda Foundation to help the scheme provide festive hampers to older people across the community. Steven Navey, General Store Manager for Asda Beeston, said: “SLLaH is a brilliant project right on our doorstep that provides crucial support and friendship to the area’s senior residents. It’s a privilege to be able to bring some Christmas joy to the people in our community at this special time of the

year.” Jayne Holland from SLLaH said, “We’ve been working with Asda Beeston and are pleased that we’ve been successful in receiving a grant from the Asda Foundation for £1,000, this money will go towards supporting their Christmas activity for the vulnerable, older people in our community.” SLLaH provides crucial support, empathy and friendship to the area’s senior residents who are still living in their own home. All too often they find that these people can feel lonely, isolated or would just love the chance to get out and meet people. Asda staff with staff and members from South Leeds Live at Home Scheme

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8 Christmas roundup

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by Jeremy Morton

It’s a Lychee Red Christmas by Jeremy Morton

by Ken Ingram

Sshhhhh…. Beeston Primary’s Special Visitor!

Beeston Primary School’s Winter Wonderland Grotto

Cllr Paul Truswell celebrates Lychee Red’s volunteers

Unicorn winners enjoy the photo booth at St Luke’s CARES

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South Leeds Life | January 2018

12 Opinion

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In our view Community ownership It’s very pleasing to see the committee at Manorfield Hall in Belle Isle get the lease to their building. Over many years they have kept the centre going and offered what the community needed. With the best will in the world council officers come and go. The powers that be need to trust the people with a real stake in the community - the residents.

Generosity of spirit What an inspirational woman Maureen Woods was and what a loss to the community. Although exceptional in the extent of her caring and giving, there are many examples of people in our communities looking out for others. Whether it’s collecting toys for children fleeing violence, or helping others grieve their dead children, there has been an awful lot of giving in South Leeds this Christmas.

Look after yourself We trust you had an excellent Christmas and New Year and didn’t over-indulge too much. Whatever your New Year’s Resolutions are we hope you’ll include looking after yourself. Improving your health and fitness may be goals in themselves, but they also have knock on effects. Exercise and getting outside is known to improve mental health. Cutting down on smoking or alcohol will put a few pounds back in your purse or wallet.

Your letters and comments Cycle Hub disruption

The preparation works for the new bike track in Middleton woods have totally destroyed the Old Tramway. It is now impossible to even walk down there, never mind ride a bike or even push one. The full length of this track is now a quagmire. I understand the council’s wish to promote cycling in the area, but was it really necessary to spoil this important part of our local heritage in the process? I have cycled this route to work for five years in all types of weather without a problem until now and sincerely hope that the Old Tramway will be restored to at least the half-decent state it was in before this work started. Lots of people use this path, not just BMX riders, so spare a thought for us normal cyclists, walkers, dog owners and people who need to get to work on time. During the Christmas holiday week I would have thought that more people will be likely to want to walk through the woods with their children etc. but this will now be very difficult. NOT VERY HAPPY! Paul Grayston Whilst the path has been rather muddy, the works have not destroyed the tramway. This route was originally built as a light railway to haul building materials up to Middleton to build council houses. After that it was used by trams for many years it will take more than some dumper trucks to destroy it. In fact I used this path several times in the weeks around Christmas and found it passable on every occasion. Furthermore the drivers were always considerate, pausing to let me and my dog past. I understand that the work so far has been to move materials, hardcore etc, into position before the route is upgraded as

Your Councillors and MP Beeston & Holbeck ward

The old tramway in Middleton Park awaiting an upgrade part of the MTB trail through the woods, confession at St Joseph’s and she would always want to know what penance the early in the new year. priest had given us. That way she could Jeremy Morton work out how naughty we’d been! I loved going into the shops near the Maureen Woods Maureen Woods has been a good person church, particularly the one where you throughout all the years that I have know could buy tricks, and even a smoking her from being a teenager myself to me monkey! Not real, of course! having my two girls. She has helped me Catherine Steel and listened to me when I needed someone to talk to when I couldn’t get in touch with my family. I am proud to have known Maureen. Mary Clegg

I knew Maureen for most of my life, about 44 years. She used to come to pick us up from the Arthingtons and walk us up to West Grange Church two or three times a week. She was an amazing lady whom was loved by many. Such a sad loss, she has a big place in my heart forever RIP Maureen you are dearly missed. Lynn Harrison

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

David Congreve 0113 257 1679 david.congreve@leeds.gov.uk Angela Gabriel 07946 632 468 angela.gabriel@leeds.gov.uk Adam Ogilvie 07969 680 024 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 267 1282 patrick.davey@leeds.gov.uk Mohammed Iqbal 0113 226 8796 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

0113 247 7761 judith.blake@leeds.gov.uk 07891 741 832 kim.groves@leeds.gov.uk 0113 247 6922 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, Middleton, Belle Isle, Beeston, Holbeck, Cottingley in south Leeds as well as the city centre, Hyde Park, Woodhouse, Little London, Lincoln Green, Burmantofts, Richmond Hill and Osmondthorpe.

Contact: hilary.benn.mp@parliament.uk, www.hilarybennmp.com Constituency office: Suite 7, Unity Business Centre, 26 Roundhay Road, Leeds LS7 1AB; phone: 0113 244 1097

Maureen was a fantastic lady,who had a heart of gold. My youngest daughter Sarah always went to her Sunday school and I attended her coffee afternoons when I wasn’t working, which was hard as I work in a school. Maureen used to give me cuddles and she always had kind words to help when the going was tough. Rest in peace good lady. I will never forget you. Debz Couldn't Sean Caden

Hunslet memories

My parents lived at the Garden Gate pub when they first moved to Leeds. They lodged with Winnie and Pat McGloughlin. My father had previously lodged with them when he lived in Mexborough, near Doncaster. They stayed in the pub until my dad got a job at Water Haigh Colliery and my parents went to live on the recently built, Coalboard Estate in South Leeds. My mother would take us to

Cllr Adam Ogilvie Adam has been a great example of how to be community Councillor (as have the reselected candidates) and he’s been a role model for many of us. It’s a loss to South Leeds and the wider city – he’s had two decades of service to be proud of. Paul Wray

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Top Tweets 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: @HealthforAllLds WOW… Our Little Chefs celebration last night was amazing! Well done to all the children and parents who attended… We had great fun! #IceCreamSundaes #ChickenFajitas #FamilyFun @LCC_employment Do you or know anyone who might benefit from a little help with jobsearch? Why not visit #ThePoint @whiteroseleeds to see how we can help you find a job @Clean_Leeds It's amazing what some people will dump in the streets, the Middleton Park Ward team weren't stumped by this they just branched out and did a Treemendous job of removing this Yule Log #CrimeNotToCare #LoveWhereYouLive

Parking Permits in Holbeck This is good, but how about doing something about the football parking? Since the carparks have become smaller and the team have become better, the parking has become even more and more eratic. Also the fans need sorting out. Next time they may not be seen while walking down the middle of the road in black on a dark night. Its absolutely ridiculous. Vikki Blake

Join the debate Comment online; by email: info@southleedslife.com; or post to: 224 Cross Flatts Grove, Leeds, LS11 7BW. Letters may be edited for publication.

@thelightoutside I sometimes forget the steam engines that run so close to my home. Then I hear a whistle toot and see the puffs of steam in the distant woods... @MiddletonRailwa is oldest continually working railway in the world! This area made 100s of engines around the globe. @groves_kim Fantastic Community Spirit at Cranmore and Raylands Community Group Christmas Party Middleton. Great to catch up. @BasementArtsPro Another Beeston sunrise

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@CB_FT We served over 200 Christmas Lunches to socially isolated older people. Thanks so much to the army of volunteers who gave up Christmas Day to provide this service

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Schools 13

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Belle Isle 500: short story competition by James Major The GATE Community Resource Centre in Belle Isle hosted the inaugural Belle Isle 500 competition awards ceremony on Tuesday 5 December. Belle Isle 500 is a short story competition for key stage 2 pupils in the area and this year involved pupils from Windmill Primary School, Low Road Primary School and Clapgate Primary School. The event was organised by Community Theatre Group and

has been supported by Belle Isle TMO, Mears and students from Leeds Beckett University who visited each school on 8 November to deliver creative writing and drama activities designed to inspire the pupils to write. This was the first time the competition has been held and there were over 150 entries from the 3 schools involved. There were 10 shortlisted stories with the authors being invited to the glitzy awards ceremony in the GATE where 5 extra special winners were announced. It was a fabulous occasion with food being provided and five of the stories being read out to the assembled audience by the pupils themselves. And the winners were: • Ethel Amin ‘A World of Imagination’ • Suzanne Sharma

One cold and frosty morning while I was playing on my tablet (I can’t remember what game I was playing) I noticed a funny little door under the shelf in the corner of the bedroom. I could hear a strange noise from behind the little door, it sounded like footsteps and then…..was the door creaking or was it just my imagination? I could hear strange voices speaking. Slowly opening the door, I saw a shadow lurking at the end of a winding dark and gloomy tunnel. As I held onto the door I felt myself shrinking, feeling very scared I was soon small, small enough to go through the door into the dark tunnel. When my eyes got used to the dark I could see candy all over the walls and on the floor. Out of the corner of my eye I

could see a gingerbread man. I was so excited about tasting all this delicious stuff I forgot all about the creepy shadows at the end of the tunnel. Picking up some candy and licking my lips I walked down the tunnel and all of a sudden a crazy clown jumped out at me laughing with a crazy voice. I was shaking so much I could hear my bones rattling. I thought I would have a heart attack but I fainted and fell like a rag doll on the floor.

I was shaking so much I could hear my bones rattling. When I woke up I was feeling dizzy. I could hear people laughing and I could hear the clown’s footsteps and as they came closer they got louder

Students work with Year 6 pupils at Windmill Primary School ‘Through the Keyhole’ • Xiao Yi Weng ‘My Story’ • Ella Crawford ‘The Confusion’ • Mason Thorpe ‘Candy World’ Runners up • Katherine Margaret James ‘The Day of the Blood Bath’ • Ruby Kirk ‘Shopping

Spree’ • Julia Dorosz ‘The Magic Door’ • Suvir Manayal ‘A Kravey Story’ All five winning stories have been published on the South Leeds Life website. Here is one of the winning stories, by Mason Thorpe from Windmill Primary School.

and louder. Then a boy shouted ‘let’s run away quickly, this way,’ and we both ran as fast as we could. We could see a candy tree and as we got closer we could see the branches were jelly cola bottles and the leaves were gummy bears. As quick as we could we climbed up the tree and hid in the sticky leaves. We stayed as quiet as we could and we saw the clown run passed the tree. He did not see us hiding in there. The boy told me his name was Jeff and he gave me a high

five. We sat in the tree all night and had a party. We stuffed our faces with the jelly cola bottles and the gummy bear leaves until we both had belly ache and could eat no more. We had the best night ever laughing about the stupid clown running past us. We told each other jokes and funny stories and we soon fell asleep. When I woke up in the morning I was in my own bed in my own bedroom…was it all just a silly dream or was it a magic adventure?

Takeover day at New Bewerley Friday 1 December 2017 was takeover day at New Bewerley Community School. The day saw KS2 pupils teaching classes, serving dinners, working in the office, and shadowing the Headteacher and Deputy. Children started the process by thinking about the roles in school, applying for the roles on an application form. The children had to think about skills and reasons

Cockburn is the School of Rock

School of Rock The Musical at Cockburn School

Candy World by Mason Thorpe

January 2018 | South Leeds Life

they wanted to take on a role. The takeover challenge was originally launched in 2007 by the Children’s Commissioner‘s office as a fun way to encourage organisations across England to open their doors to children and young people to take over adult roles. The children enjoyed taking part and are looking forward to next year’s challenge. Headteacher Gary German gets some help with Assembly

by Jeremy Morton Cockburn’s production for 2017, School of Rock - The Musical, was another triumph for the school which has specialist status in the performing arts. The show tells the story of Dewey Finn (played by Scott Morton, no relation), a slacker rock guitarist who finds himself teaching rock’n’roll to primary school children. This heartwarming story is told through song with a live band of pupils providing the music. I talked to some of the cast just after the dress rehearsal. After months of hard work they were feeling “Good, excited and ready to go.” I asked them how drama fits in with the rest of their school work. “It’s more practicalbased, and gives you more confidence to take into other lessons” said Beth Pickles (who plays Ned Shneebly). “It’s quite hard when rehearsals overlap with revision (for upcoming GCSE exams), but it’s like a

break as well.” “I think School of Rock has a lot lessons. It teaches you that you don’t have to be a stereotype – a nerd or a teacher’s pet – you can be anyone you want to be” said Hanna Lee (Summer). “It also shows that you don’t have to keep your feelings inside yourself. You can always talk to someone” added Kai Morley Hadi (Lawrence). As actors their musical tastes range from Ariana Grande and “whatever’s on Capital Radio” through to AC/DC. Only Beth is in a real life band. I was extremely impressed with the show. There were some great performances amongst the cast, the live music was terrific and the stage set with giant video screens provided a a great platform for the actors to shine. Based on this performance we can definitely say “South Leeds Rocks!” You can find a video report about the show on the South Leeds Life YouTube channel.

South Leeds Rocks! Cast members: Kai Morley Hadi, Hanna Lee, Scott Morton, Ebony Kitchen and Beth Pickles

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14 People

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Middleton Memories – 2017: my blogging year A Tale of Two Jeeps by Hazel Mulroy I was born in Middleton in 1953 and was brought up in the Old Village directly opposite Manor Farm (when it was still a working farm of approximately 100 acres of land and not the housing estate it is today). My Dad was a motor mechanic and spent most of his spare time in his garage (which had an air raid siren fitted to deter burglars) repairing, re-modelling or making things from scratch. Dad got his first army jeep in the late 1950’s. He bought a clapped out motor bike for £3/10 shillings (which he could ill afford) from a farm at the bottom of Middleton Park Avenue and partly rode it, but mainly pushed it, home to our bungalow in Town Street. After doing it up he swapped it for an American World War II Willys jeep. We named it TROGG and both my Dad and Trogg soon became minor celebrities around Miggy. The first time he picked up my older brother in Trogg, from Middleton C of E school, a crowd of boys gathered round. One envious lad remarked “That’s nowt, my dad’s gettin a Tank tommorer “ We would often get kids climbing over our gate and hanging round our garden hoping for a ride or offering to wash it. Miggy woods was on our doorstep so anyone and everyone, including the dog, would pile into the jeep and we’d set off through the park. Once past the lake and the old cafe Dad would suddenly veer off the road and go up towards the clearings or down onto the tram tracks with us kids bouncing about laughing and cheering in the back. Happy days! Dad would also drive us to see Grandma who lived on the other side of the tram track in

Acre Crescent and sometimes we’d go bumping over “nutty slack field” near the Conservative Club. Mum also remembers him going to Post Hill near Pudsey where motor bike scrambling was very popular. This was a long and very steep 1 in 3 gradient hill! The second Hazel’s Dad, Jack Westerman, with Trogg Willys jeep in his Town Street back garden was rescued from a farmyard in St Helens, a lot of hard work and Merseyside, where it was being determination Trogg 2 was used as a chicken coop . This finally roadworthy. We had lots more off-roading would have been in the late adventures with Dad driving 1960s or early 1970s. It was a non-runner so Dad around Middleton and the borrowed a tow truck from woods, along canal towpaths, where he worked at Wallace around disused airfields & Arnolds on Hunslet Road and many more places that were towed it home. He paid £18, supposedly “out of bounds” for haggling the price down from motor vehicles. I often wonder what became £25 It was stripped down, a new of my Dad’s jeeps. Were they engine fitted with the help of scrapped many years ago or is my eldest brother (Mum got the one of them in a field worst job of scraping out piles somewhere being used as a of chicken droppings) and after hen house?

Doreen Westerman (and co-driver) by the canal

Hazel & Dad on South Shore at Bridlington

Hazel somewhere in Miggy Woods

by Ken Ingram As 2017 draws to a close I look back on a very eventful year. Earlier in the year I was shortlisted for a Tenant of the Year award, my name put forward by Carla Yeomans of Belle Isle TMO. I went with Carla to Manchester where the award ceremony was held. I came in the last 12, and got a certificate. I want to thank Carla and Chris Simpson for nominating me. Belle Isle Tenant Management Organisation (BITMO) manage the council housing in Belle Isle and they run the GATE community resource centre, on Aberfield Gate. In March me and Carla from BITMOs GATE held a Cuppa for Dementia day. I got the Lord Mayor to come and open the event. We booked a singer, Julie who sang songs from every era. We had some fantastic prizes on that day for a raffle, the two big prizes, Tea for Two at the Civic Hall with the Lord and Lady Mayoress and a Food Hamper donated by Chris and Julie Holmes. Altogether we raised £100 for Dementia charities.

are two vacancies up for grabs if you fancy moving here. You will love it here. I also made myself known at the Middleton Elderly Aid centre across the road from Acre Court. Michele the My new home at Acre Court outreach person Life, when I can. from MEA came and gave me a I’m on the Steering Group at financial review, and Sam has my Medical practice,which will asked me to help organise a continue and visit the many Dementia Café there with Peter Dementia Cafés in the South Smith and Alex, my Mental Leeds area. Health care worker. Although I remain treasurer This will start in the New Year. for Belle Isle In Bloom in the As well as a new walking group New Year, I’m to step down

The Walk & Talk group in Middleton Park

to take place from MEA on a from gardening duties, my knee Wednesday. I’m taking a First won’t take much more. Aid Course. I have set up a web site, In the New Year, although I kenneth-phography-onhave moved from Belle Isle to line.site123.me where you can Middleton I will keep the view my pictures from time to BITMOs GATE Walking group time. Scroll down to the gallery. going, which will move to So a big thanks to to Mondays from 11am till 12pm. everyone on the Walking group, I’m looking forward to new personal thanks go to Carla, walkers in the group and will be Lynne, Donna and Ashlyn from looking for grants for BITMOs GATE, without their the group. Which help nothing would have been will enable to pay for possible. such things as A big thank you to Peter and Pedometers, t-shirts Liz Smith and my Metal Health and more. social worker Alex Caine. I will keep the I can’t forget thanks to Susan South Leeds Life Fisher who makes me laugh, News Café on a Catherine and Joanne, regulars Friday going, as well on the walks and can be seen as attending other in BITMOs GATE resource groups such as the centre. very popular A big thank you go to Julie Welcoming the Lord Mayor and Ancestry group led and Chris Holmes. Who have Lady Mayoress to BITMOs GATE by Julie Holmes. helped me a lot this year. I also report and photograph, Thanks to Gerry, Steph and The event will happen again in 2018, when me and Carla for BITMOs GATE at their Dave from the Breakfast Club Finally thanks must go to will make it an even bigger events. I can be seen in the area when anything is Jeremy, editor of South Leeds event. Watch this space. In October this year I moved happening, I will be there to Life, for all his support during to a new retirement housing report on it for South Leeds the year. complex in Middleton: Acre Court. This suits me better with my Dementia getting worse. I have met new friends at the Court. Indeed on an evening I will sometimes go down to the communal lounge and have a drink with some of the residents, Irene, Mildred, Sheila, Tony and Carol are often down there after Bingo or just down for a drink and a chat. The Court has regular events going on through the year, Alison the Manager said there Middleton Elderly Aid (my second home)

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Obituary 15

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Maureen Woods (1944-2017) by Mark Hodgkinson Occasionally in life we have the privilege to meet remarkable people. Maureen Woods was one such person. Maureen passed away on 5 November 2017 at home surrounded by people she loved. On Thursday 16 November West Grange Church in Belle Isle was packed to the rafters, with people literally spilling out of the door, all there to say goodbye to Maureen, a fitting tribute to someone who had touched so many lives. Maureen was born in Belle Isle on 14 May 1944 in the house she lived in all her life. She grew up on the estate and was employed at ‘Soapy Joe’s’ for a number of years before leaving to devote her life to working, initially among the people of Belle Isle, and then further afield, as families moved to other areas in South Leeds and beyond; her work took her wherever there was a need. For short periods she also worked at St George’s Crypt in Leeds and in the kitchen at St Andrews Bible

College in Malton. Many of Maureen’s friends believe God gave her a special gift and called her to work among people of all ages; children, young people, adults and families. Maureen loved people. As one friend commented, “She was always properly interested to know how you were, and what was happening, and when she could pop in for a cup of tea”. Another friend said of her, “A five-minute journey in the car would often take at least half an hour with Maureen as we frequently had chores to complete – cards to post, things to deliver, people to pop in on. Maureen often asked for the car to stop so she could speak to people we passed on the estate, many of whom had links as children with West Grange from years, sometimes decades earlier. Now adults and only barely recognisable to most, because of the passage of years, Maureen remembered them, anxious to say hello, and keen to enquire and show obviously genuine interest in

their life and circumstances.” Even on the journey back from the hospital, where she had received the news of her terminal illness, she called out to ask a lady who she recognised how she and her family were doing, with no mention of her own illness. At the age of 11 years old Maureen attended Sunday school at East Grange Church and faithfully attended the church throughout her life. In 1968 the church moved into a new building and became West Grange Church. Maureen loved children and through her involvement in the children’s work at West Grange from her teenage years onwards until shortly before she died, she became a second mum or favourite Aunt to literally hundreds. Her Sunday school room was always packed full. Maureen began with a walking bus down to church and then, as families moved further afield, she enlisted some help and sent a minibus out to pick up the children. Maureen loved teaching her class, and the

children loved her. She was genuinely interested in them, loved them and they were drawn to her and not just because of the blue toffees she gave out. As the children grew up and moved on, Maureen stayed in touch, often sending cards or letters. Maureen also helped lead a Bible class on a Sunday afternoon and one close friend said: “I loved going to church on a Sunday afternoon. I think because I felt heard and seen. There was laughter and learning, competition and cheering. Maureen would teach us how to find our way around the Bible and teach us verses by playing a game. This became my favourite game as it was here I began my love for the Bible.” It was said of Maureen that she had very few acquaintances and many, many friends. Indeed, her capacity for deep relationship with such a large number of people was truly astonishing. Another friend of Maureen’s said of her, “Maureen loved people and showed it by giving in so many ways, she gave her time, money, flowers, toys, gifts, food…. the list is endless.” Another recalled the time when Maureen came to visit and having spent some time listening declared that she felt they needed a holiday. The next day Maureen called to say she had arranged for them to go to “Adam’s Bungalow” in Filey to stay for a week with all the transport arranged. Over and over again it was said of Maureen, “she has been there for me and my family, turning up at the hospital, just to sit with you, sending sandwiches because you were on the move and didn’t have time to cook, making you a lasagne, sending Mars Bar crunch, because you didn’t need to be worrying about going to the shops right now.” During a particularly difficult time in another friend’s life Maureen was there to support. They recall “I did not tell my friends about the problems for weeks, but the one person who just knew something was not right was Maureen and it was Maureen that got me to sharing what was going on. We would meet every Saturday at the Bendix launderette at Middleton, me taking my pillow slip full of my family’s clothes to be washed and Maureen would bring a bag of washing on the bus from Belle Isle. We would watch the washing, help each other fold clothes out of the

Maureen Woods, known and loved by many in Belle Isle dryer and we would talk. I would talk. I found in Maureen an adult who I could trust. She listened to me. She cared for me in practical ways. I used to throw the clothes from the dryer in the pillow case until she showed me that folding them meant I might not need to iron them!!! “She talked about Jesus a lot to me and because of her my relationship with the Lord Jesus grew deeper and stronger through some very difficult years as a teenager caring for my family. Maureen quickly became an extended member of our family and would come every Christmas to stay in our home because our parents and family loved her.” Her love for such an extraordinary number of people was also evident in her fortnightly coffee afternoons at the church which she started and ran for 30 years. People would come for a drink and the delicious homemade cakes, but more than anything would come because they were loved and felt safe and because they had someone who listened to them, who prayed for them, who went out of her way to do whatever she could for them. Why did she do all this? Well, at each and every coffee afternoon Maureen would explain her reason: “I would hope that the Father’s heart would touch your heart today.” Maureen loved people because she knew how deeply she was loved by God and how deeply God loved others. She laughed with people in times of happiness, cried with people in times of loss or sadness and was always there with a word of encouragement. Rarely has

anyone loved so extravagantly with such commitment and energy. Maureen always said she didn’t like her own voice but she was not ashamed to use her voice to talk with so many, many children, young people, friends, family and anyone she came in contact with. Maureen dearly loved her husband Pat. Maureen always wanted to be married and waited a long time for the right husband. She married Pat in 2001 and the 16 years she and Pat had together were her happiest. Maureen loved to write and Pat would often find notes and cards in his lunchbox, and even at the end, Pat found a note tucked in the gas bill: “Pat, I love you more than anybody else on earth, and I so want you to be happy… love Maureen x” He didn’t find it until after Maureen had died. Maureen continued her work for the rest of her life and was out visiting until just three weeks before she was taken to her heavenly home. She organised and spoke at her last coffee afternoon just ten days before she died and shared the news of her illness and said she was praying for a miracle. As one friend rightly said “Her prayers were answered, Maureen’s life shared with and devoted to others was the miracle.” Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said, “In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.” The community in Belle Isle and South Leeds and beyond has been blessed to know someone who lived this out in a truly astonishing way.

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16 Arts

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Art Life: South of the River

Alan Dunn: Four Words Technology

by Bruce Davies Having been a resident of Beeston for nearly twenty years, moving here initially to attend university in 2000, I have seen many changes occur across South Leeds and the city as a whole. At the dawn of the millennium, areas that had become run down over a relatively short period of time were being torn down and are now some of the biggest indoor retail spaces that Europe has to offer. Since the financial crash of 2008 though we have been living in an age of austerity, an event which precipitated a massive change of direction for

When I replied that I was really sorry and did not have any change on me, he then responded with the question “You wouldn’t fancy drawing out a fiver for us would you?” To which of course my answer was no. I could see the change in his expression instantly from passive pleading to an angry – why would you say no? Desperation or dishonesty it is impossible to guess at, but in the interest of fairness we must take such events at face value until we learn otherwise. Having worked as an artist and curator of projects around Leeds and Liverpool since 2007 I decided, in 2011, that South Leeds, specifically my

Paul Digby: Cityscapes | At Home and at Work (2017) BasementArtsProject the city’s fortunes, or more specifically the fortunes of those living in it. Where the previous decade had seen something a decline in the amount of rough sleeping and anti-social behaviour, the sudden withdrawal of money at the beginning of this one has seen the trend thrown swiftly into reverse. Walking to the Tesco on Dewsbury Road early one Sunday morning, I was accosted by a gentleman who introduced himself in the manner of someone who was embarrassed and not used to begging. After a lengthy prologue the inevitable question came “you wouldn’t be able to spare some change would you as I’m homeless?”

family home, would become the focus of future projects and a base from which to work on external projects. In the years since, we have created exhibitions in Sweden, USA, Liverpool, Manchester and London whilst maintaining a broad programme of artistic activity here in South Leeds, this has involved thirty-five projects over six years. The impetus for this project came from many things, not least the nature of austerity squeezing the budget on cultural projects, for which read artists wages and production costs, but also the desire to provide something that would be placed at the heart of South Leeds and made easily accessible to the community in which I have spent the last 17

years of my life. On a warm Saturday afternoon in May 2014, having just returned from a monthlong project based in Jamestown; New York, a deprived urban area in America’s rustbelt, I found myself preparing to meet two curators that had arranged to come from London to view our, then current, exhibition by Manchester based graduate of Leeds Metropolitan University, Alistair Woods. As I open the front door ready to accept the day’s visitors, I am greeted by Karl and Charley

engage artists and audiences, and communities in general, between the zones of the city, that we ensure each area has access to its own specific set of resources. This means having access to community resources, art, green space, sports facilities and the things that generally lead us towards a healthier, in mind and body, and more harmonious way of living through shared ownership. When talking to people in the street about the city itself, I often come across the opinion that the city centre is not

SCIBase | COLONIZE (2014) Dykeman Young Gallery, Jamestown, NY. USA audio installation by German It wasn’t, a few days later he artist Hans Peter Kuhn, was a was back in his sleeping bag, motionless figure in a sleeping passing the time of day with me bag. and my children in his usual I stopped to look. Through cheery way, as he regularly the thick layers of clothes and does whenever we pass. These sleeping bag was an unmoving are times in which societal figure. Crouching down I tap the problems affect both the centre figure on the shoulder. He and edges and we must awakes with a start. I apologise acknowledge our circles of

Alistair Woods: Subjected to Change (2014) BasementArtsProject from London’s Sluice Art Fair somewhere that people choose who inform me that they arrived to go, after all ‘the shops are early and had spent a lovely cheaper in Morley’. This of half hour in the sun, on the course assumes that the city is grass opposite, next to what only good for shopping. was the old Police Station on What about culture? At the Tunstall Road, picnicking whilst moment visual art is low on a they waited for us to open. list of priorities, we are still You might be wondering at being dragged along by the this point, what is this piece of recessional undertow, so writing about? All this talk of art looking at, or being involved in, and austerity, community and art is not the first thing that commerce etcetera, where is it springs to mind when leading? considering the things that The answer is everywhere concern us on a daily basis. and all at once. South Leeds is In fact, access to much visual separated from other areas of art, unlike theatre, film and the city by a series of physical music, is free whether it be the constructions that reduce the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds flow of people between the Art Gallery, The Tetley or the zones, they are: a river, a Stanley and Audrey Burton motorway, two sets of railway Gallery in the centre of Leeds, tracks and a managed or BasementArtsProject out prostitution zone. here in South Leeds. Dominic Hopkinson: A Study of Aperiodic Tiling with special reference to the 3rd dimension (2016) BasementArtsProject

SCIBase | COLONIZE (2014) Dykeman Young Gallery, Jamestown, NY. USA and ask if he is okay and if needs anything, he says he is fine and I move on. One week later, one of the three homeless people regularly stationed beneath the railway in Neville Street passed away and I briefly wondered if it had been the guy I had woken up.

concern and influence. One is significantly smaller than the other but it is important that we act accordingly and work to achieve that which is possible for us as we move through the days of our lives. Bruce Davies is an artist, writer and Curator of the BasementArtsProject.

BasementArtsProject is currently showing ‘Jill & Josh and their Dead Petz’ by appointment until 28 February 2018 (to make an appointment text Bruce Davies on 0750 672 1504) There is also a Lunchtime Conversations event with Jill McKnight and Josh Hart on Monday 22 January 2018. Booking is essential via: basementartsproject.com The Tetley is currently showing Saelia Aparicio: Your Consequences Have Actions. The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery at University of Leeds is currently showing the work of Austin Wright.

This lack of movement works both ways with people from South Leeds not visiting other areas of the city and vice versa. For this reason it is important that alongside attempts to

One final anecdote: Making my way home from the city one Saturday I passed under the Neville Street railway bridge. There, pressed up against the wall underneath the light and

Leeds Art Gallery is currently showing the work of Joseph Beuys and work from the Leeds Collection. The Henry Moore Institute is currently showing the work of Henry Moore.

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Arts 17

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Take your seats for a Review: The Lion, new season of theatre The Witch and

The spring and summer season at West Yorkshire Playhouse will be special, not just because of the range and quality of performances, but this will be the last before the playhouse closes for a major refurbishment. Every third minute in the UK someone will begin living with dementia. Every Third Minute (9 Feb – 31 March) is a festival of theatre, dementia and hope. The first of its kind, the festival puts people living with dementia at the heart of the creative process, curating a broad programme of work from new theatre and workshops to live music. Still Alice explores the effects of early-onset dementia on identity, family and relationships, in this uncompromising yet tender portrayal. James Graham’s prescient political drama This House (23 Feb – 10 March) launches its first ever national tour from West Yorkshire Playhouse. Set in the engine rooms of Westminster in 1974, this is a politically urgent production. Following the sell-out success of the 2016 world premiere, the West Yorkshire Playhouse and Red Ladder

Still Alice Theatre Company co-production The Damned United (27 March – 7 April) returns to Leeds. This passionate account of Brian Clough’s ill-fated tenure as manager of Leeds United will return to the Courtyard Theatre in a stripped back new staging before visiting venues across Leeds as part of a Community Tour programme, continuing the Playhouse’s commitment to staging work in the heart of Leeds communities. Set to a classic soundtrack by The Proclaimers, West Yorkshire Playhouse’s brand new production of the life-affirming hit musical Sunshine on Leith (20 April – 19 May) opens in the Quarry Theatre before embarking on a major national tour. This heartwarming, foot stomping

adventure explores the true meaning of home. The Girl on the Train (12 May – 9 June) is an adaptation of Paula Hawkins’ riveting best-selling novel, and hit film, bringing the thriller that enthralled the nation to the stage for the very first time. The joyous final production in the Quarry Theatre ahead of the transformative redevelopment is Searching for the Heart of Leeds (19 – 23 June), a celebration of the vibrant stories and people of our city.

brand new live show Peppa Pig’s Adventure! (9 – 10 June). Showtime From The Frontline (15 – 17 March) sees Mark Thomas and his team set out to run a comedy club and put on two nights in Jenin in the West Bank, only to find that it is not so simple to celebrate freedom of speech in a place with so little freedom. Transporting the Playhouse back to 1840 is the thrilling adaptation of Henry James’ classic ghost story, The Turn of the Screw (20 – 24 March). As a governess takes a role caring for two

Carla Mendonça as the White Witch. Photo: Birgit & Ralf Brinkhoff

Birdsong Performed by a community company, this empowering closing production is written by BAFTA-nominated writer, Beeston’s Mark Catley. Sharp, witty and pertinent, Alan Bennett’s much loved Talking Heads (14 – 23 June) will be performed in the Courtyard Theatre, across the city in the homes of local Leeds residents and in community venues. Touring productions visiting the Playhouse this season include: Phoenix Dance Theatre present the world premiere of Windrush: Movement of the People (7 – 10 Feb). A lively celebration of the rise of multicultural Britain celebrating the 70th anniversary of the arrival of SS Empire Windrush that bought the first Caribbean migrants to the UK. Birdsong (13 – 17 Feb) is a mesmerising story of love and courage. A young Englishman embarks on a passionate and dangerous affair with the beautiful Isabelle Azaire in pre-war France, turning both their worlds upside down. This adaptation of Sebastian Faulks’ bestselling novel marks the 100th anniversary of the end of WW1. Bursting with growing grannies, feathery farm animals and bags of frothbuggling family fun, it’s George’s Marvellous Medicine (13 – 17 March). Filled with adventure as plucky George contends with his grumbling, grouchy Grandma, Roald Dahl’s treasured tale is set to delight children and adults alike in this phizz-whizzing spectacular. The world famous Teletubbies are starring in their first ever theatre show Teletubbies Live (27 – 28 March). Whilst Peppa Pig and friends make a fantastic return to the Playhouse with

The Wardrobe

orphans in a seemingly idyllic country house, she begins to realise they are not alone. Kneehigh return to the Playhouse with The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk (20 – 24 March). Lovers Marc and Bella are immortalised as the picture of romance, but whilst on canvas they flew, in life they walked through some of the most devastating times in history. Northern Broadsides Hard Times (22 – 26 May) is a new adaptation of Charles Dickens great Northern novel. In a world where imagination is forbidden, dark, cold mills are interrupted by the colour and vibrancy of Sleary’s Circus in a touching and hilarious tale of suppressed love, seduction and longing.

FREE TICKETS As part of South Leeds Life’s partnership with West Yorkshire Playhouse, we are giving away a pair of free tickets to each show. In return, all you have to do is write, or help us write, a review of the show. To request tickets for any of these shows please email info@southleedslife.com and tell us why you would like to go to the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

by Kayla Holdsworth We sent 12 year old Kayla Leigh Holdsworth to the West Yorkshire Playhouse to see their production of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, based on the much-loved book by CS Lewis. Here’s her review: I have to say I’ve been to many performances and by far this one has to be my favourite. The audience interaction and participation was great. The way they helped make a setting by getting the audience involved was amazing. At the start they were talking to us and helping us imagine that we were on in a train going to a new home. The special effects were brilliant, they made such a difference to the performance. I loved how at different points they would change it to the mood. Like when it went into Narnia it would be white for snow then green for grass but when Aslan died it went red for blood and disappointment. I loved the purpose and reasoning for the trap doors as it gave the performance a realistic and natural perspective while being a unique and engaging effect. I also loved how they used physical theatre throughout the performance to demonstrate the set and how they

used it to identify characters like Maugrim the wolf and how it was so realistic. The use of ribbon climbing was very effective as it was beautifully set out and added another layer of skill to the production. It was jaw dropping to say at the least. I enjoyed how the actors manipulated the animals and truly embodied them. There wasn’t one aspect of the performance I didn’t like. Overall it was a great performance and would definitely go and see the talented production again as it gave me goose bumps and was very realistic. After the performance was sadly over, as it was press night, the cast and crew have gave us their time to have a chat. My name is Kayla Leigh Holdsworth and I’m an actor of the age 12. I have done many productions as I used to go to Stagecoach but I also currently go to Cockburn School which is a performing arts school. My agent is The Drama Mob. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe runs at West Yorkshire Playhouse until Saturday 27 January 2018. Tickets cost £14-£50 and are selling very fast for the Christmas period. The production is suitable children aged 7 upwards.

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South Leeds Life | January 2018

18 What’s On

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What’s On Your guide to events and activities across South Leeds in January

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Full details of every event including map and contact details are available at www.southleedslife.com/events

Full contact details can be found in our online What’s On guide at www.southleedslife.com/events Every Monday Women & Girls’ Drop In 9:30am-12pm Asha Neighbourhood Project 43 Stratford Street, Beeston Lychee Red – Chinese Elders Gp 10am-12pm Belle Isle Family Centre, Belle Isle Road Friendship Group 10am-12pm Belle Isle Family Centre Julie’s Ancestry Group 10am & 1pm BITMO’s GATE Aberfield Gate, Belle Isle Road Crafts 10-11:30am Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Avenue Salsa-cise 11:30am-12:30pm St Andrew’s Community Centre, Beeston. Lunch Club 11:30am-1pm Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave Lunch Club 12-1:30pm Cottingley Community Centre Bowling 12:30-4pm Cross Flatts Park Christmas arts and crafts 1-3pm BITMOs GATE, Aberfield Gate, Belle Isle Road Women’s Wellbeing Group 1-3pm Belle Isle Family Centre, Belle Isle Road Dance 2-3pm Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Avenue Triathlon Training 4:15-5:45pm Middleton Cycle Hub Kickboxing 6-9pm Beeston Parish Centre, Town Street Hunslet Warriors Juniors 6-7pm Warrior Park, The Oval South Leeds Sisters running 6.15pm South Leeds Stadium St Matthew’s Youth Club 6:30-8:30pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Women’s Couch to 5K running 6:30-7:30pm Middleton Park Bike Hub, LS10 3TN Zumba 7pm Middleton Parochial Hall Prize Bingo 7-9:30pm Beeston Parish Centre, Town Street Middle Tones Singing Group 7-9pm Tenants Hall Enterprise Centre, Acre Close, Middleton Adult Jazz & Tap Dance 7-8pm Cottingley Community Centre Zumba 7-8pm Hamara Centre, Tempest Road, Beeston Every Tuesday Mums & Tots 9-11am Manorfield Hall, Newhall Road, Belle Isle Keep Fit for over 55’s 9:30am Trinity Network, Belle Isle, Nesfield church hall Tots, Tea and Toast 9:30-11:15am St Luke’s Church, Malvern Road, Beeston Heart to Heart Breakfast 9:30am Asha Neighbourhood Project, 43 Stratford Street Coffee Morning 9:30am-12pm St Andrew’s Community Centre, Beeston HEA’s Tea & Toast breakfast

10am-12pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Breastfeeding Support 10am-12pm Middleton Family Centre, 252-262 Sissons Road Friendship Group 10am-12pm Hunslet Methodist Church, Telford Terrace, Balm Rd General fitness over 55's 10-11am St Anthony's church hall, Beeston Community Coffee Morning 10-11:30am Beeston Library HEA’s Singing Group 11am-12pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Knit & Natter 10:30am-12pm Middleton Park Visitor Centre Bumps & Buggy Fit 11:30am-12:30pm Middleton Park Visitor Centre, off Town St Gentle Exercise 11.30am-12:30pm Cottingley Community Centre Lunch Club 11:30am-1pm Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave Lunch Club 12pm Woodhouse Hill Community Centre, Hunslet HEA’s Lunch Club 12:15-1:30pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Bowling 12:30-4pm Cross Flatts Park Social Afternoon 1:30-3pm Woodhouse Hill Community Centre, Hunslet Line Dancing 2-3:30pm Middleton Community Centre Rainbows, Brownies, Guides 4:30-9:15pm Beeston Parish Centre, Town Street Inside Out wellbeing group 6-8pm Conservative Club, Ring Road Middleton Women’s Boot Camp 6:45-7:45 Middleton Park Bike Hub, LS10 3TN Craft & Social Evening 6:30pm Woodhouse Hill Community Centre, Hunslet Carr Free Football Sessions 6:30-7:30pm 8-12 year olds 7:30-8:30pm 13-16 year olds Holbeck Community Centre, Elland Road, LS11 0AB South Leeds Lakers running 7pm from Beeston Co-op Middle-Tones Singing Group 7-9pm Tenants Hall Enterprise Centre, Acre Close, Middleton Every Wednesday Bacon Butty Breakfast 9-11am Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave Messy Time 9:15-11am Middleton Play & Learning Centre, Throstle Lane Parents and Toddlers 9:15am-12pm Beeston Parish Centre, Town Street Get Fit Where You Sit 9:15-10:15 Lane End Primary School, Beeston Road City Tots 9:30-11am City Evangelical Church, Cemetery Road Pop Up Council Services 9:30am-2:30pm Cottingley Community Centre

Chair mobility 10-10:45am Trinity Network, Belle Isle, Nesfield church hall Breaklfast Club & Foodbank 10am-12pm Hunslet Methodist Church, Telford Terrace Rags to Riches Sewing Group 10am-12pm Tenants Hall Ent. Centre, Acre Close, Middleton HEA’s Shopping Trip 10am-1pm Holbeck Elderly Aid, Domestic Street CAP Job Club 10am-12pm Two Willows Children’s Centre, Cardinal Sq Community Craft Cafe 10am-12pm Church of the Nazarene, Hunslet Hall Road Money Advice 10:15am-3pm St George’s Centre, Middleton Walk and Talk 12-1pm BITMOs GATE, Aberfield Gate, Belle Isle Free Zumba 12-12:45pm Middleton Leisure Centre HEA’s Lunch & Film Afternoon 12-3pm Ingram Gardens Community Centre, Holbeck Lunch Club 12:30pm Salvation Army, Hunslet Hall Road, Beeston Grandparents’ Group 12:30-2:30pm Tenants Hall Ent. Centre, Acre Close, Middleton Line Dancing 1:45pm Trinity Network, Nesfield Road, Belle Isle At Home In Holbeck 2-3pm Ingram Road Primary School Walk and Talk 2-3pm meet outside Greggs, Middleton Park Circus Knit and Crochet Group 3-5pm Costa Coffee, Crown Point Retail Park Aerobics and Dance 3:30-4:30pm Cottingley Primary Academy DAZL Dance class (6-12yrs) 4:45-5:45pm Watsonian Pavilion Cross Flatts Park, Beeston DAZL Dance class 5-6pm Cottingley Community Centre 1st Beeston Beaver Scouts 6-7:30pm St Andrews Community Centre, Cardinal Road, Beeston Hunslet Warriors Juniors 6-7pm Warrior Park, The Oval City Kids (R-Y6) 6-7:15pm City Evangelical Church, Cemetery Road General fitness 6:15-7:15pm Belle Isle Family Centre Cottingley Youth Club 6:30-8:30pm Cottingley Community Centre Zumba 6:30pm Middleton Parochial Hall, Town Street Women’s Couch to 5K running 6:30-7:30pm Middleton Park Bike Hub, LS10 3TN Zumba 7-8pm Hamara Centre, Tempest Road, Beeston Middleton Mavericks running 7pm South Leeds Stadium Martial Arts

7-9pm Beeston Juniors, Cardinal Square Clubbercise 7:30-8:30pm St John & St Barnabas Church Hall, Belle Isle Camera Club 8pm upstairs at St George’s Centre, Middleton Every Thursday Mums & Tots 9-11am Manorfield Hall, Newhall Road, Belle Isle Charity Shop 9:30am-3pm Beeston Parish Centre, Town Street HEA’s Community Cafe 10-11:30am St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Ping Pong / Model Making 10-11:30am Middleton Community Centre Middleton Park Estate Volunteers 10am-3pm Middleton Park Visitor Centre New Lives Group 10-11:30am Cottingley Children’s Centre Storytime (under 5s) 11-11:30am Dewsbury Road Community Hub, Beeston Chair based mobility group 11:15am-12:30pm Beeston Village Community Ctr Lunch Club 11:30am-1pm Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave Lunch Club 12pm St Andrew’s Community Centre, Beeston Line Dancing 1pm Trinity Network, Nesfield Road, Belle Isle Little Explorers Baby Group 1-2:30pm Middleton Play & Learning Centre, Throstle Lane New Lives Group 1-2:30pm Two Willows Children’s Centre, Cardinal Square Digital Image Online Photography 1:15-3:15pm Cockburn Skills Hub, Gipsy Lane Social Afternoon 1:30-3pm St Andrew’s Community Centre, Beeston Activites with Rocky 1:30-2:30pm Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave Craft Group 1:30-3:30pm Cleveleys Court, Holbeck Vale Circles Autism Hub 2-7pm Vale Circles Centre, Tunstall Road, Beeston Kidz Klub Middleton 5:05-6:15pm Middleton Primary School, Middleton Park Avenue Mini & Junior Rugby 6-7pm Leeds Corinthians, Ring Road, Middleton Women’s Rounders 7pm Middleton Leisure Centre Indoor Bowls 7-10pm The Holbeck (WMC), Jenkinson Lawn Youth Drop In 7-9pm Watsonian Pavilion, Cross Flatts Park Clubbercise 7:30-8:30pm Cottingley Community Centre Zumba 7:15pm Middleton Parochial Hall Every Friday

Tea & Toast 9am Beeston Parish Centre, Town Street Charity Shop, Tea & Toast 9am-12pm Beeston Hill United Free Church, Malvern Road Breastfeeding Support Group 9:45-11:15am Mothercare cafe, Crown Point Retail Park Under 5s Storytime 10-11am Dewsbury Road Library HEA’s Tea & Toast Breakfast 10am-12pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Cuppa, Toast and Games 10am-12pm Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave Middleton Minstrels Women’s Choir 10:30am-12:30pm Tenant Hall, Acre Close, Middleton Lunch Club 11:30am-1pm Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave Luncheon Club 12-1:30pm Beeston Parish Centre, Town Street HEA’s Fish & Chip Lunch Club 12:30-1:30pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Bowling 12:30-4pm Cross Flatts Park Krok Po Kroku (Polish Group) 12:30-2:30pm Tenants Hall Enterprise Centre, Acre Close, Middleton Ballroom Dancing 1-2:30pm St Andrew’s Community Centre, Beeston HEA’s Games Afternoon 1:30-3pm St Matthew’s Community Centre, Holbeck Gentle Chair Exercise Class 1.30-2.30pm Middleton Elderly Aid Social Centre, Midd. Park Ave Rhymetime 2pm Beeston Library, Town St Urban Dance 4pm Cockburn School Holbeck Skate Park 5-6:30pm Holbeck Moor Girls Football 6-7pm Beeston Juniors, Cardinal Square Church Lads’ & Girls Brigade 6-8pm St John & St Barnabas Church, Belle Isle Road Friday Night Project 6-9pm Middleton Leisure Centre 1st Beeston Cub Scouts 6:15-7:45pm St Andrews Community Centre, Cardinal Road

1st Beeston Scouts 8-9:30pm St Andrews Community Centre, Cardinal Road, Beeston Every Saturday Breakfast Club 8:30-11am Vale Circles Centre, Tunstall Road, Beeston Cross Flatts parkrun 9am Watsonian Pavilion, Cross Flatts Park Coffee morning 9am-12pm Beeston Parish Centre, Town Street Police Contact Point 9:30-11:30am St George’s Centre, Middleton Kidz ‘n’ Co 10:30am-12:30pm Cottingley Community Centre Every Sunday Cross Flatts junior parkrun 9am, top of Cross Flatts Park Wednesday 3 January Hunslet Memories 12-2pm The Prospect pub, Moor Road, Hunslet Pot-a-Tea Dementia Café 1:30-3:30pm St Andrew’s Community Centre, Beeston Thursday 4 January Elements Primary School coffee morning 10-11am Tenants Hall Enterprise Centre, Acre Close, Middleton Elements Primary School drop in 1-4pm Tenants Hall Enterprise Centre, Acre Close, Middleton Hunslet Carr Residents Assoc 6:30pm Community Centre, Woodhouse Hill Avenue Beeston Community Forum 7:30pm Old White Hart, Town St Saturday 6 January No Stress Yoga 10-11:30am The Tetley, Hunslet Road Coffee Morning 10am-12pm St Andrew’s Community Centre, Cardinal Road, Beeston Teens Club 1-5pm Vale Circles centre, Tunstall Road, Beeston Tuesday 9 January Mostly Men! 10am-12pm St Andrew’s Community Centre, Beeston Camera Club 3-4:30pm Dewsbury Road Community Hub, Beeston

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January 2018 | South Leeds Life

News 19

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Baptist prayer A taste of Bollywood Following on from the wonderful evening with Paul and Fiona Jones in October, Middleton Park Baptist Church have recognised the need to follow this up. There was a great response to the request for prayer and so we would like to hold a Service

Wednesday 10 January Elements Primary School coffee morning 10-11am Tenants Hall Enterprise Centre, Acre Close, Middleton Elements Primary School drop in 4-6pm Tenants Hall Enterprise Centre, Acre Close, Middleton Friday 12 January Elements Primary School drop in All day White Rose Shopping Centre Saturday 13 January Family Art Workshop 11am-3pm The Tetley, Hunslet Road Tuesday 16 January Holbeck Community Meeting 7:30 St Matthew’s Community Centre Thursday 18 January Jobs Day 9:30am-4pm BITMO’s GATE, Aberfield Gate, Belle Isle Road St Luke’s Tenants & Residents 6pm St Luke’s Church, Malvern Road, Beeston Bereavement Support Group 7-8:30pm St George’s Centre, Middleton Saturday 20 January Ramblers group Meet 9am St Mary’s Church, Town Street, Beeston Young Archaeologists Club 10am-12pm Middleton Park Visitor Centre, off Town Street Teens Club 1-5pm Vale Circles centre, Tunstall Road, Beeston Wednesday 24 January Tiny Tetley 10:30-11:30am; 11:45-12:45 The Tetley, Hunslet Road Thursday 25 January Hunslet Remembered 10am-12pm Hunslet Library Saturday 27 January Family Art Workshop 11am-3pm The Tetley, Hunslet Road Sunday 28 January BITMO Lunch Club 1-3pm BITMO’s GATE, Aberfield Gate, Belle Isle Road Maltings Court Lunch Club 1-3pm Maltings Court, Maltings Road, Beeston Tuesday 30 January The Creatives 3:30-4:30pm Dewsbury Road Community Hub, Beeston Wednesday 31 January Cop Shop Memory Cafe 1-3pm Elland Road Police Station Thursday 1 February Hunslet Carr Residents Assoc 6:30pm Community Centre, Woodhouse Hill Avenue Beeston Community Forum 7:30pm Old White Hart, Town St Saturday 3 February Coffee Morning 10am-12pm St Andrew’s Community Centre, Cardinal Road, Beeston Teens Club 1-5pm Vale Circles centre, Tunstall Road, Beeston

of Prayer. Since the Paul and Fiona event the church has undergone some building work, which has delayed this service until the New Year. The Service of Prayer will take place on Sunday 4th February 2018, at 4.30pm; it will be followed by a light tea. For more details please visit our website at:www.middletonparkbaptistc hurch.org.uk

Want to get fit in 2018 and have fun at the same time? Come along to Beeston Festival’s Bollywood dancing classes! The sessions run every Tuesday at 6pm starting on 9 January at the Hamara Healthy Living Centre on Tempest Road in Beeston. All ages and abilities are

welcome. The classes cost £1 and there’s no need to book, just turn up. You might even get the chance to perform at Beeston Festival on 14 July. Thanks to Leeds Community Foundation and fund anchor partner John Lewis Leeds for Bollywood dancing at Beeston Festival. Photo: Paul Bullivant sponsoring these classes.

There’s nothing like a dame (oh yes there is!) Little Miss Muffet, sat on a Tuffet, eating her Curds and Whey. What is a Tuffet? What are Curds and Whey? Why was Miss Muffet sitting on one and eating the other? None of these questions and more will be answered in the St Andrews Pantomime Groups 2018 production: Little Miss Muffet. The award winning group return to the stage at St Andrew’s Community Centre on Cardinal Road, Beeston. Bill Taylor will be playing the dame for the 20th straight, or not so straight, year. Profits from the show will be distributed to a range of local charities. Poor Little Miss Muffet is an orphan living with her Auntie, the world famous scientist Professor Miranda Muffet. She is studying hard to go to University and will inherit her parents’ fortune when she turns 18 in a few months time, but all is not well. Molly’s Uncle Mortimer has landed on hard times and got in with a bad crowd and he has other plans for her money. And if things couldn’t get any worse, the Professor has just brought home the biggest, scariest spider in the world from the Rainforest, against all Health

Bill Taylor as Widow Twankey in Aladdin last year and Safety regulations (nothing Show times: could possibly go wrong there Saturday 13 January 2pm,7pm then). Sunday 14 January 2pm Miss Muffet and her Auntie Wednesday 17 January 7pm aren’t alone though, she has Satuday 20 January 2pm, 7pm her friends Jack Horner and Sunday 21 January 2pm Contrary Mary, a bustling Tuesday 23 January 7pm housekeeper and a lazy butler Thursday 25 January 7pm to help or hinder her. (BSL signed performance for If you want to find out what the hearing impaired) happens join us as we present Saturday 27January 2pm,7pm our story of Little Miss Muffet. Tickets cost £5 for adults and Little Miss Muffet runs from £3 for children. Contact the box 13-27 January at St Andrew’s office on 07443 571868 or Community Centre, Old lane, email: standrewspantogroup@ hotmail.com. Beeston.

The cast of Little Miss Muffet are waiting to welcome you to St Andrew’s

South Leeds Life | January 2018

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20 Sport

Boxing clever

Ismail Khan with coaches Darren Rhodes and Dennis Robbins Beeston resident and Hunslet Club boxer Ismail Khan won his 2nd National Title: the CYP Championships in December. This is a great start to what is a big season for Ismail, in May he will compete in the National Senior Championships which is the biggest honour you can win as an amateur at domestic level. In January Ismail will be representing England on a show against a strong USA team.

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Let’s get active in 2018 If one of your New Year’s resolutions was to be more active and get fitter - we have some suggestions about how to get started. are lots of There opportunities in South Leeds from walking and running groups to gyms and sports clubs. Running is a great and relatively cheap way to get fitter. If you’ve never run before, or only many years ago, don’t worry. There is tried and tested way to get anyone running - it’s called the Couch To 5K programme. You can do it by yourself - just download the NHS app onto your phone and you’ll be led a nine week through programme. You will gradually build up from short runs with walks in between until you are able to run for the whole 5 kilometres. Of course, it’s more fun to do it with others and with a trained run leader to guide you. The good news is that two groups are about to start.

The latest cohort of South Leeds Lakers Couch to 5K graduates at Cross Flatts parkrun with run leaders Ian Pickles and Denise Thurlow The Middleton Mavericks everyone. There are a number organise a wide range of free or have teamed up with This Girl of walking groups in South cheap sessions including Can to run two women only Leeds. swimming and gym sessions at Couch to 5K programmes Our own Ken Ingram is a John Charles Centre for Sport starting on Monday 8 January trained walk leader and and racket sports at Middleton at 6:30pm and Wednesday 10 organises the BITMO Walk and Leisure Centre. January at 7pm. Both groups Talk group which meets at They also run special start from the new Middleton BITMOs GATE centre on sessions such as walking Park Bike Hub. Aberfield Gate, Belle Isle Road football or ‘unorthobox’ - a non The sessions are free, but at 11am on Mondays. contact boxing session for you need to book via the This Health For All organise the families which runs on Girl Can Facebook page. Inside Out wellbeing group Tuesdays at 3:30pm at They are also running a which meets outside Middleton Cottingley Community Centre. general Fitness Bootcamp on Conservative Club at 6pm on If you prefer team sports, why Tuesdays at 6pm, also at the Tuesdays. Call Gayle on 07852 not check out you local club? Bike Hub. 945286 for more information. Many community centres South Leeds Lakers meet Gayle also runs a Walk and host fitness classes - have you every Tuesday at 7pm at Talk group that meets outside heard of Clubbercise? Ideal if Beeston Co-op. Greggs on Middleton Park you have fond memories of They regularly have over 70 Circus every Wednesday at Saturday night clubbing and runners and run 4 or 5 groups 2pm. like clubbing it’s in the dark so so they can cater for all St Mary’s church in Beeston you don’t need to be abilities, even beginners. Their has a Ramblers Group which embarrassed if you are not as motto is “no one gets left goes for a longer walk once a slim as you once were. behind.” First timers should month on a Saturday. And then of course we have come along at 6:45pm to fill If you are looking for gym to our very own urban bike park. out a form and it’s free. join don’t forget that we have At the Middleton Park Bike Hub The Lakers will be starting community owned facilities as you can explore all types of another Couch to 5K group well as the national commercial cycling from family rides in the soon, so keep an eye on their brands. Have a look at The park to BMX and MTB trails. Facebook page. Hunslet Club on Hillidge Road You don’t even need your own Another way to start running and the Hamara Centre on bike to get started. is to attend parkrun. This is Tempest Road in Beeston. Whatever activity you choose another free session organised Leeds Lets Get Active we hope you enjoy yourself. by volunteers every Saturday morning. Parkrun is a measured, timed 5K walk or run. Before your first run you need to register at www.parkrun.org.uk and bring your barcode with you. Cross Flatts parkrun starts near the top gates of Cross Flatts Park near Beeston Road at 9am every Saturday. A new Middleton parkrun is due to start soon, so watch out for an announcement soon. All the groups are very welcoming and nonjudgemental so don’t be put off or think you might show yourself up - you won’t. As This Girl Can puts it “I’m slow but I’m lapping everyone on the couch.” Of course running isn’t for Lightsticks ready? It’s time for Clubbercise