In August, young people from the neighbourhood took part in our annual Summer School.
We were joined by 18 young people aged 8 to 13, from Chapeltown, Harehills, Mabgate, Lincoln Green or Burmantofts for five days filled with arts and fun activities that everyone could get involved in.
Starting on Tuesday, we went for a walk around the local area, taking part in a photo walk and green mapping in the Harehills/Mabgate area. Through the photo walk the young people saw the areas in a new way, and the green mapping helped them to learn how to use a map and see the green space in the area.
We then travelled to Yorkshire Sculpture Park on Wednesday. Throughout the day we looked at both the exhibitions and the landscape. It was the first time that any of the young people had been to the park. The group thought a lot about how architecture makes them feel, and the possibilities that it can give to a space.
Eight guests from the BAME Hub in Chapeltown joined the group on Thursday and decorated plates together. The BAME Hub group shared stories of the area from when they were younger and how it had changed over the years, forming an exchange about their community and the future of the area between the groups.
For Friday, there was a session pulling together how the young people are thinking about their area, how they want it to develop in the future and how the Neighbourhood Plan can help to implement these changes.
On Saturday we also held the Summer Special, where families and people in the neighbourhood could come and see what the young people had been doing over the course of the week. As part of the Summer Special, we also had free food and ice cream, arts and crafts activities, and music.
