What's happening in Beeston, Belle Isle, Cottingley, Holbeck, Hunslet, Middleton and Stourton
Exactly a year ago, in my column for South Leeds Life, I reflected on how the world had changed in ways that could scarcely have been imagined four weeks earlier. Twelve months on, who would have imagined that we would have seen 126,000 people lose their lives, three lockdowns, businesses
Cllr Judith Blake is stepping down as the Leader of Leeds City Council following her appointment to the House of Lords. I have had the privilege of working with Judith over many years in her roles both as a Middleton Ward councillor and as Council Leader and I just want
I had a very useful catch-up recently with Elissa Newman of Holbeck Together, the voluntary organisation of which I have the honour to be Patron. Despite the lockdown, Elissa and her wonderful team have continued to support their service users with regular phone calls, help with shopping and prescriptions and
As some of us try and make up for Christmas indulgence by increasing the number of steps we take each day, you notice just how much more of your surroundings you can take in when walking as opposed to travelling the same route by car. I really enjoy looking at
As a hard and difficult year draws to a close, we are all desperately hoping that 2021 will be different. Well, that hope appears to have been answered. Three new ‘stars’ have appeared in the dark winter sky in the form of coronavirus vaccines. It is extraordinary that they have
“It is the Government’s responsibility to make sure that children do not go hungry.” These were the words of my parliamentary colleague Kate Green when she moved the motion calling for free school meals to be funded during the autumn half term, Christmas and Easter holidays. The Government has rightly
Since March, our lives have been dominated by Covid. As I write, Leeds has just been put under new restrictions which mean that families won’t be able to see anyone else in their homes. It is the rising rate of infections in our city that has made this inevitable and
The independent review into the managed area in Holbeck recently published its report. It’s worth reading, although I found parts of it rather frustrating. In particular, I was genuinely puzzled as to why there was such an apparently low response rate to the questionnaire that the independent review circulated to
First things first. Many congratulations to Leeds United on winning the Championship and being promoted to the Premier League. It’s been a long wait, but a bright future beckons now that the club is back where it belongs. I recently watched a television programme on the career of Marcelo Bielsa.
As I write this, I’ve just remembered that today I should have been at the Beeston Festival which is always one of the highlights of the year. It’s a reminder of just how disrupted normal life has been by this pandemic. And yet we have found new ways to support