JanineWelcome to our new slot, where we’ll highlight a different venue you can use for your activities and events for free or at a very low cost. If there’s a venue you’d like to feature, please contact: editor@eastsidestory.uk
This month Natalie Tharraleos went to find out how the amazing city centre 7th-floor venue currently hosted by Climate Action Leeds can be utilised by Leeds citizens for social justice and climate action activities. And what an incredible space it is, boasting panoramic views, with rooms of all different shapes and sizes and plenty of features to help your event be amazing. Here’s the low down, Natalie met with one of the core groups that form Climate Action Leeds, Simon Moore, representing Imagine Leeds.
Can you tell readers a bit about the amazing space here at City Exchange (a building that sits within Leeds Trinity Centre off Albion St)
We’ve been here for the last three months, and we’ve been developing the space with Climate Action Leeds and a group of volunteers.
It’s a central location where we want to bring people together to work across sectors on the three big crises that we face at the moment around climate, nature, and social inequality.
Those are the focus areas that we are working on. And this is a space that can bring lots of different organisations and community groups together to tackle those challenges collaboratively. To network and meet others across this movement and to try and do more together in a more coordinated way.
What resources are here that people can come and use and contribute to?
So anyone who is working on climate, nature or social justice is very welcome to come and use our resources and visit the space we’ve got. We have co-working and desk space here for up to 25 people, we’re usually open five days a week (9am-5pm), we have a range of different-sized meeting rooms that fit up to 20 people, some with hybrid facilities, as well a big event space where we can host events that can take up to 80 or 100 people. So we’re really well equipped.
Up on the 7th floor, we sit above the Trinity Centre with unbelievable panoramic views of the city. So it’s a really great space to imagine a more sustainable future for Leeds.
By the way, we can sometimes do evenings and Saturdays too, for a fee
Are there any costs to using the space?
We don’t charge hire fees, but we do ask for contributions if people can help us with the cost of running the space. It’s an open invitation – if people have leaflets and flyers, they’re welcome to bring them along and display them.
We want the space to be a kind of hive mind of what we know about what’s going on in Leeds, with stalls and leaflets and exhibitions. We love having a wide range of groups using the space and showcasing what they do.
There’s so much going on across Leeds – we invite people to think, “How can I contribute to the climate action movement, how can I best get involved, who can I join up with that I am not already connected to?”
What’s the best way to contact Imagine Leeds?
People can drop in if they happen to be in town, but there’s no guarantee that someone will be free, so the best way is to book a time to visit by emailing Simon Moore on simon.moore@ourfutureleeds.org
There’s also a kitchen space with cafe-style tables and a free book library – we welcome small book donations, especially of books in different languages, children’s books, sustainable cookery books, and gardening books.
Two doors up from the building is a free bike park, so you can leave your bike undercover indoors.
There are lockers for regular users of the space and a craft room to make banners, posters and more.
Imagine Leeds has the use of this fantastic space for at least another three months and hopefully longer – so we totally recommend that you get in touch soon with them and consider holding your event there.
To find out more about Climate Action Leeds: https://www.climateactionleeds.org.uk/
Photos courtesy of Imagine Leeds, who will be having a launch event in this space on Thursday 8th June “Please join us from 4pm on the evening of Thursday 8th June for an exciting launch event for our new venue Imagine Leeds: the climate action hub.”
