Meet the Neighbourhood Hosts: 33 inspiring people shining a light on the communities of Leeds

Neighbourhood Hosts at the LEEDS 2023 100 Days to Go Launch. JMA Photography.

Leeds Culture

Nivetha Tilakkumar

As part of our major community-led project My LEEDS 2023, we’re thrilled to announce the 33 Neighbourhood Hosts working with us to celebrate their community’s creativity.

Community is such an important aspect of life. It’s what connects us in ways we don’t expect. We find it through the people around us in our neighbourhoods, whether that be through our ethnicity, our gender, our age group or our shared interests. Leeds is full of communities with rich culture and creativity. My LEEDS 2023 is about putting a spotlight on each ward and celebrating the communities within them.

At the start of October, we recruited 33 Neighbourhood Hosts, one in each ward of the city - 33 remarkable local people passionately committed to the places they live in or belong to. Meeting as a group every week and taking part in training workshops, trips and discussions, over the coming 15 months the Hosts will embark on an inspiring journey to explore their respective wards, to discover what makes them so special, and to shine a light on the creativity and culture that thrives within them.

Nick Wayne, Roundhay Neighbourhood Host, at the LEEDS 2023 100 Days to Go Launch. JMA Photography.

We’re so delighted to announce these 33 wonderful people, along with their Anchor Organisation, an organisation based in their ward who will provide mentoring and guidance along the way. Discover them below and learn more about them here.

With the support of LEEDS 2023 and the Anchors, Hosts will discover all the ways people in their ward take part in culture - whether through play or craft, bake or dance, amazing cultural events or the work of brilliant artists and creative people who live there. And in conversation with their community, in Summer 2023 Hosts will work together to imagine, shape and create events and activities in every ward of the city to spotlight them - Year of Culture celebrations all across the city in each ward’s style.

Jita Kaur, Little London & Woodhouse Neighbourhood Host, at the LEEDS 2023 100 Days to Go Launch. JMA Photography.

This Year of Culture is about platforming the diverse communities of Leeds and celebrating their individuality. This is the main aim of My LEEDS 2023 – to give the stage to the people of Leeds and allow them to show off their creativity and culture. The Neighbourhood Hosts, as experts in their wards, are central to this ambition.’

Kully Thiarai

CEO and Creative Director

As well as celebrating the creativity of their wards, Hosts will help connect LEEDS 2023 with their communities, supporting people across their ward to take part in the Year of Culture’s many opportunities.

And although they’ve only just begun, the Hosts’ enthusiasm for the journey ahead is already palpable.

‘I want to give back to and inspire my rich and warm community, by lifting and celebrating the vibrant and diverse voices that dwell here.’

Kelly Hamilton

Gipton & Harehills Neighbourhood Host

‘Having the opportunity to be involved in creative activities can have a transformative impact on people’s lives and I’m so excited to be a part of this outstanding project.’

Caroline Newsome

Garforth & Swillington Neighbourhood Host

We’re so excited to see where this journey takes the Hosts. If you are interested in getting involved in your ward and supporting your Host, find them under 'Meet the Team' and get in touch!

My LEEDS 2023 is made possible thanks to funding from Paul Hamlyn Foundation and National Lottery Heritage Fund and is in partnership with University of Leeds Horizons Institute. The Neighbourhood Host scheme is delivered in partnership with UNION: The Northern School for Creativity and Activism.

Below is a list of the Neighbourhood Hosts, Anchor Organisations and wards:

Adel & Wharfedale – Nicola Browne, OPAL
Alwoodley – Mark Lam, MAE Care
Ardsley & Robin Hood – Victoria Pratt, Groundwork
Armley – Kimberly Frangos, Armley Helping Hands
Beeston & Holbeck – Amitoj Kaur, Slung Low
Bramley & Stanningley – Dean Patrick, BARCA
Burmantofts & Richmond Hill – Jeniffer Makau, Touchstone
Calverley & Farsley – Alaina Dunne, Sunny Bank Mills
Chapel Allerton – Gemma Lake
Cross Gates & Whinmoor – Anna Dean, Cross Gates Good Neighbours
Farnley & Wortley – Ian Thursfield, Armley Helping Hands
Garforth & Swillington – Caroline Newsome, NET Garforth
Gipton & Harehills – Kelly Hamilton, Space 2
Guiseley & Rawdon - Lucy Phillips, AVSED and Season Well
Harewood – Becky Smith, Anchor Organisation to be announced
Headingley & Hyde Park – Abeer Mukhtar, Cardigan Community Centre
Horsforth – Kezia Roberts, Horsforth Community Asset Project
Hunslet & Riverside – Karen Peters, Hamara
Killingbeck & Seacroft – Lisa Savage, LS14 Trust
Kirkstall – Nathan Shipley, Kirkstall Valley Development Trust
Kippax & Methley - Michaella Biscomb-Tempest, NET Garforth
Little London & Woodhouse – Damanjit (Jita) Kaur, Woodhouse Community Centre
Middleton Park – Alison Hughes-Waters, Health For All
Moortown – Zhora Mohammad, Anchor Organisation to be announced
Morley North – Lisa Tobin, Groundwork
Morley South – Ruth Parker, Groundwork
Otley & Yeadon – Abigail James, Otley Courthouse
Pudsey – Kate Frazer, Music Box
Rothwell – Millie Donaldson, CROWN
Roundhay – Nick Wayne, Anchor Organisation to be announced
Temple Newsam – Michelle Wood, HOPE
Weetwood – Joanne Michael, OPAL
Wetherby – Kazia Knight, Wetherby Lions

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