Light on Leeds

Send us Fan Mail Jo Ritchie remotely connected to tell me about Projecting Grief which explores how creativity can help people through the grieving process. Jo is a photographer and developed this project with Faye Dawson (of episode 36 fame!). Together they have created a beautiful website with stunning photographs and stories of people who used creative processes to help them through a difficult...

Send us Fan Mail I loved to hear about the work Keziah and others are doing at Mafwa Theatre. Keziah is a theatre maker, who works with the theatre group who are made up of female refugees, asylum seekers and settled Leeds communities. Keziah chose to feature some beautiful singing by Cecilia who is the theatre group's longest-standing member and is from Cameroon. https://twitter.com/mafwathe...

Send us Fan Mail Nicky and Sarah remotely connected to tell me about Musicultural Conversations which are fun and interactive English, music and drama sessions for refugees, asylum seekers and migrant communities. Nicky chose at track she wrote and perfomed herself "Live and Learn" it's a brilliant song and the lyrics are really clever and funny. Musicultural Conversations: http://w...

Send us Fan Mail Faye Dawson is a fantastic story teller and was a brilliant guest who remotely connected to tell me how she got involved in the world of public relations. She chose the fabulous track, Plastic Fox by her friend Mik Artistik. https://fayedawsonpr.com/ https://www.instagram.com/fayedawsonpr/?hl=en https://twitter.com/FayeDawsonPR https://www.facebook.com/faye.dawson.359 https://www....

Send us Fan Mail I had a great chat with Robb from Scalarama Leeds. Scalarama Leeds is run by volunteers for the love of cinema. Robb tells me about the events they organise and the service they can provide for people wishing to put on a film screening. Robb chose a song to feature by his band Roman Empire called "Hyding in the Dark". It was written to commemorate the centenary of the Hy...

Send us Fan Mail Shreena Gobey is a Senior Youth Work Officer at Leeds Playhouse. She supports young people, refugees and assylum seekers. She was a lovely person to chat to and it was great to hear about the various and brilliant initiatives that are going on at Leeds Playhouse. Shreena chose the beautiful track by Peakes "Will Talk" to feature on this episode. https://leedsplayhouse.or...

Send us Fan Mail Tessa Smith is a band leader, singing teacher and runs community choirs. She tells me about her work and the unexpected bonuses gained from online singing practice. Tessa chose a track she’s sung herself called “Can He Dance”. https://www.tessasmith.com https://tiny.cc/tessamaillist I make no money from this podcast and all I ask is that you enjoy it, tell your friends and if you...

Send us Fan Mail Joe Williams of Heritage Corner Leeds runs Leeds Black History Walks celebrating African history and diversity in Leeds. Joe has the most mesmerising voice and tells me some amazing stories. If you would like to book yourself onto one of his walks, you can do by clicking the link below: https://www.gcfoundation.co.uk/ https://www.facebook.com/Leeds-Black-History-Walk-4358222702957...

Send us Fan Mail Rob Pyke from Veritas Paranormal UK run ghost hunts that make lots of money for charity. Rob and his wife Ann-Marie host ghost hunt events up and down the country and between them they have over thirty years experience in the world of the paranormal. You can join them online ofr a real time ghost hunt. Rob told me lots of ghostly stories and was a great guest! The featured track t...

Send us Fan Mail Alan Lyddiard runs Performance Ensemble which is a theatre company of performers aged 60 and over. Alan believes older people have valuable contributions to make to society. As we age, we can become invisible to others and that must change. Alan is a great story-teller and has the most fantastic voice. Alan chose the featured track for this episode and it's by a very famous L...

Send us Fan Mail I had a fantastic time chatting to Lee Murtagh about Bethlehem Boxing in Richmond Hill. Lee is a real character and I loved hearing about the movie “Straightner” and am very much looking forward to seeing it. The brilliant featured track on this episode is by Honeycub and is called “Nothing Changes”. https://www.facebook.com/lee.murtagh.1 https://www.facebook.com/Bethlehemboxingcl...

Send us Fan Mail Carrieanne Vivianette is the CEO of CVIVArts, a group of creatives who were due to stage a performance of “A Hunger Artist”, Sadly cancelled due to COVID. Carrieanne tells me about being a performance practitioner and a fine artist, how she came to be doing what she’s doing and much, much, more. The track this week is the beautiful “Christabel” by Duncan Evans. This episode has be...

Send us Fan Mail Sam Fish is the Director of Rolling Social Events and is the co-founder of Leeds Rum Festival and Leeds Gin Fair. Sam is the Head of Food and Beverage at The Tetley. She runs Sip Along events for those struggling to get out and about. The featured track this episode is “The Ballad of Jenny Horne” by Chichilla Death Cult. www.rollingsocialevents.com www.facebook.com/rollingsocialev...

Send us Fan Mail Vicky Ackroyd runs Totally Inclusive People which offers consultation and interactive disability awareness and equality training. They aim to give as many people as possible the skills to communicate confidently and compassionately with anyone they meet. Vicky is also an audio describer at theatres and writes for stage and radio The brilliant track this week is “Online” by Vicky’s...

Send us Fan Mail Alison McIntyre and Liz Stirling are the Art Doctors. They remotely connected to tell me about prescribing art and how it encourages audience engagement; the zoom videos they’ve been creating during lockdown and lots more. The song this week is provided by the band Liz is a member of F= with their track “It’s Easy Being in a Band.” http://artdoctors.org.uk/ https://www.youtube.com...

Send us Fan Mail D3 is a spoken word atist who has created her own genre Ra-poetry. She remotely conncted to tell me about her work educating young people, her time as a radio presenter, performing on BBC's Live Lounge and much more! The track this week is of coures, by D3 herelf and is called "Nutter". She is currently working on her debut album "Product of Society". D3 w...

Send us Fan Mail It was great to speak to Tasha Grant who owns Flavour Like Fancy, an independent gift shop which supports local artists. Tasha tells me about the shop, how she’s feeling about reopening and her art as Loon Moon Jewellery. The song this week is by Carmen McClean and it’s called “Slow Down”. www.flavourlikefancy.co.uk www.facebook.com/FLFGiftshop www.instagram.com/loon_moon_jewellry...

Send us Fan Mail Lily Craig is an Arts Facilitator and connected to tell me about the work she has been doing to reduce social isolation and loneliness. She is a trained Dementia Care Mapper and helped to develop Young at Arts where she worked closely with Yorkshire Dance, Northern Ballet and Opera North. Lily works alongside two previous guests, Chris O’Connor and Anna Turzynski on Fragments - a...

Send us Fan Mail Gill and Rob from Zero Waste Leeds remotely connected to tell me about them building a movement to make Leeds a zero waste city by 2030. ZWL use social media to share ideas and top tips on waste reduction. https://twitter.com/zerowasteleeds www.zerowasteleeds.org.uk/ www.facebook.com/zerowasteleeds/ www.instagram.com/zerowasteleeds/ www.youtube.com/channel/UCD4AOnL4OuGUnxHqDi_5ghQ...

Send us Fan Mail Andy McVeigh remotely connected to tell me how he got the name Burley Banksy, his street art on electricity junction boxes, his work with LUFC and much, much more. Check out his website to order your very own LUFC art. Music this week is the cracking track “I Am Some body” by Limpit. www.twitter.com/pantsdanny www. Facebook.com/burleybanksy www.burleybanksy.com www.instagram.com/I...

Send us Fan Mail Martin Newton and Susan Childs from Hawksworth Older People Support Services remotely connected to tell me about the work they do allowing older people to live independently and to improve the quality of life of the individual. They’ve had over 480 planned activities that have had to be cancelled due to Covid bloody 19 and tell us how the elderly are coping and what they’re doing...

Send us Fan Mail Una & Margaret are a mother and daughter who produced a graphic novel together called “On Sanity” which tells the story of Margaret’s experience of psychosis. We also discuss their adventures in teaching Margaret digital skills. Music this week is provided by Scum (Una’s son is in the band) with their excellent track “This Machine Will Kill." *The sound is not fantastic o...

Send us Fan Mail Phil remotely connected to tell me what he’s been up to during lockdown, his time at Leeds College of Music and his record label Clumsy Alien.  Phil chose a track he’s written himself “5am”.  https://www.facebook.com/PhilGrahamMusic https://twitter.com/twigsays https://open.spotify.com/album/51Z1nrJe71XLnUaGkWzW7v https://www.facebook.com/ClumsyAlienRecords https://twitter.com/Clu...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode the wonderful Faye Dawson interviewed me to commemorate the first birthday of the Light on Leeds podcast. I tell Faye the inspiration behind it and how despite quite a few setbacks, I persisted. There is some swearing in this episode. I chose the brilliant tarck "Mr 'ow Much " by the excellent ExP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZuiWGC6Pto https:/...

Send us Fan Mail Brad Parsk is an explorer, musher and survival instructor. He has travelled to over 50 countries across 5 continents. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Fellow of the Zoological Society of London. He is currently writing his first book and was a very interesting guest! Music this week is by The Sheratons with their brilliant track “Raving & Droolin...