Janine GriffithsVoices, drums and the smell of home cooked food filled the hall of the Old Gipton Fire Station on Saturday as more than 40 young people from across Leeds formed new friendships, shared stories and discovered opportunities they had never been offered before.
The gathering, called Kikwetu Youth Connect and organised by the Kikwetu Kenyan community group, was created to do something simple but powerful: bring young people together in one room and give them space to connect, learn and feel they belong.
The former fire station had transformed into a lively hub of drumming circles, mentoring tables and leadership workshops. Teenagers who had never met were laughing over plates of free East African food, swapping experiences and helping each other write CVs. The atmosphere was noisy, warm and unmistakably hopeful.
Jennifer Macau said the group wanted to move beyond social gatherings and create something more purposeful for the next generation, giving young people a stronger sense of belonging and a chance to connect across communities.
“We love to come together as a community and do a lot of celebrating in different ways. Dance, food and music are very common for us, and we realise that, yes, those are important aspects of our culture and our community, but there’s more to that, because we need to engage our young people and be able to see them carry on what we have done in the past. So this event, and one we did in December, was to start bringing young people together, not just within the Kenyan community, but with other communities as well.”
The group, a community interest company only a year old, wanted to create something deeper than a cultural event. Despite being rooted in the Kenyan community, the doors were open to everyone. On the day, Kenyan, Roma, Pakistani Asian, West African and other young people shared the same space.
Jennifer added: “Our events are open to other communities and other cultures, because we never live on an island. So we wanted our young people and other young people to come together and connect and be empowered in one room. We really wanted to create a space for young people to come connect, network and socialise.”
During the event, there were drumming and storytelling sessions to ground young people in culture and identity, alongside CV writing, mentoring, leadership talks and digital skills workshops aimed at the future. Games and informal activities ran throughout the hall.
On the day, there were also a variety of stalls from local charities and organisations, such as East Leeds youth organisation called Ifarada, Freedom4Girls, plus Roma Roots, a community organisation that works with the Roma community in East Leeds.
Tina Leslie, the founder of Freedom4Girls Tina Leslie from Freedom4Girls described the day as lively and positive, with large numbers of young people taking part in learning activities around journalism and education. She said her organisation was there to offer its own specialist support around period and mental health education, while acknowledging that stigma and taboo can still make those conversations harder to start.
For Leslie, it was the sight of so many teenagers engaging that stood out.
For Adam Aslam, it was what happened when barriers quietly fell away. Bringing young people together from different neighbourhoods and backgrounds, he said, had created moments of connection he had not anticipated.
He explained that simply creating a room where they could meet, share culture and be heard had been transformative and added: “We’ve had over 40 young people coming together, many of whom don’t know each other. This event has brought together young people from Harehills, Burmantofts and Gipton who have come to connect with each other through music, culture and art, and to make their voices heard. It’s been amazing.”
Support also came from Richard Burgon, MP for Leeds East, who said the event showed what the venue had become for the area.
He explained: “It is great to see people from different communities coming together today in the Old Fire Station, enjoying each other’s company, talking about opportunities and talking about how they can get involved in inspiring, interesting projects. This is not only for their own benefit but for the benefit of the whole community. I think that’s exactly what this kind of venue is for, and it’s a really inspiring thing. So I just wanted to come down today and show my support for this fantastic initiative at this wonderful East Leeds venue.”
To find out more about the Kikwetu Kenyan Community Group or to get involved, email: kikwetukenya.com.leeds@yahoo.com
