Janine
A new mural has been created by young people in Harehills as part of a bid to celebrate life in the district and capture the things they love about the place they call home.
The aim of the ‘We Love Harehills’ mural was to bring children from different communities together and challenge the negative stereotypes about the area.
It was officially unveiled at a community event in the Bilal Sports Centre last week where young people were officially awarded with certificates of achievement by the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Robert Gettings, MBE.
He said: “It is obviously a wonderful space, run by the community to provide such a facility for young people. It is important that they have somewhere safe to go where they can mix with their friends and have people to look after them. The mural is fantastic. It is wonderfully researched, designed, and painted by the young people.”
The project was kickstarted in November by Breaking Down Barriers in partnership with the Yorkshire Dales Trust and Junior Sports Hub. Although Harehills often gets a bad rap and has in the past been stereotyped as a high-crime area, the mural serves as a symbol of positivity and diversity in the area.
Dr Hanif Malik, OBE, founder of the Leeds Muslim Youth Forum, played an instrumental role in supporting the project and providing a platform for young people to express their creativity. He explained that the project helps to bring together young people from different backgrounds to overcome the barriers of hate and racism.
He added: “We wanted to give young kids a platform, so they can have more of a voice on issues that were impacting them.
“There were a lot of issues with kids not communicating, so we thought it would be a good vehicle to get kids from different backgrounds working together and participating in initiatives like this.
“During the course of the project, they got to know each other, despite their different backgrounds. It is challenging hate and encourages kids to think about the area they live in and how sick they are of Harehills having a bad name.”
A selection of Asian food was served at the event, which was also attended by Michael Devlin, Deputy Chief Executive of the Yorkshire Dales Millenium Trust. The Trust took a pivotal role in helping to get the event off the ground and taking youth groups on trips to the Yorkshire Dales.
He said: “I think it is fantastic if we can empower young people with resources, the right tools, and support to create their own projects. It will be fantastic to see what they come up with. Let it be youth-led and let the youth voice come through to really show what they are about and what Harehills is about.”
By Janine Griffiths
