Author Archives: Karen Liu
Growing achievement for Lishi classes in Headingley.
Photo courtesy of Wai-Yii Yeung
AN EXERCISE programme from China based on the philosophy of Yin and Yang has been introduced in Headingley.
The classes at St. Augustine’s Wrangthorn Church Hall in Headingley as well as Leeds University has gained a lot of success.
Lishi combines the very best from Tai Chi, Cardio Kung Fu, Self Defence and Daoist Yoga.
It has been practised for thousands of years and is still around today because of its relevance to the challenges of modern life:
Wai-Yii Yeung, the leader of the Lishi classes said: “I started Lishi when I was a student at the University of Leeds and I got so much from the classes that I wanted to make sure that other students could learn these arts and benefit from the exercises and philosophy.
I teach classes at Wrangthorn Church Hall as well as at the University and all my students agree that it helps them concentrate, de-stress and boost their energy.
“Part of the programme of self-development includes not only learning the exercises but eventually learning how to teach and lead.
“As I developed these skills I found that I really enjoyed sharing this ancient knowledge and starting classes in the area was a natural next step. I love it.”
Lishi classes have been going on throughout the UK and abroad, but it has been kept secret for a long time compared with other Tai Chi or Self Defence arts.
Wai-Yii added: “I hope that as more people experience the benefits they will tell others and Lishi will start to grow in popularity through word of mouth.
“I love teaching these arts but more than that I love it when people tell me how much the classes have had a positive impact on their life and time at university.”
Find out more about Wai-Yii and her classes:
Leeds Beckett University Headingley Campus and Leeds University collaborate for the African Voices project.
Credit to Gettyimages/iconeer
THIS MONTH will see African post-graduates visit primary schools to educate pupils about the positive image of Africa as part of the African Voices project.
Six students from Leeds Beckett University and the Headingley campus as well as six students from Leeds University have joined forces in this project in the hope to raise more awareness after going to schools.
Will Atkinson, 26, is the Collaborative Outreach Coordinator and leader of the Leeds Beckett side of the project at Headingley Campus and he said the project aims to change young peoples’ stereotypes of Africa based of what you see on charity adverts:
He added: ” It’s meant to be about trying to challenge stereotypes of Africa.
“So lots of people think that Africa is all poor, with no development where kids are starving and the main aspect of this project is that our students will go and challenge those stereotypes.
“That they’re successful people because they are doing a Master’s and it’s about telling a different story about Africa.”
The post-graduates have been having training lessons in the run-up to this month teaching them how to work with children:
This project was originally setup by Richard Borowski, the LUCAS Schools Project coordinator at Leeds University as well as Becky Moore, owner of DesignInspireLive and has been successful for past few years:
Will added: “I think having a University and a community like Headingley is a really wonderful way of furthering cultural understanding.
“But I think often it’s difficult for international students to really become part of the community because they’re usually here for a short period of time.
“They’re not always receptive as home students to volunteering schemes and working within the local community so this is a way for our international students to get to know Leeds, the British education system and enrich their experience of studying in Leeds aswell.
“They’re not just here being students, they’re also here being a part of the community.”
Jesus Shaped People comes to Headingley.
The Reverend Gordon Dey on the left and The Reverend Tom Lusty of St. Chad’s on the right. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Johnson
ST. CHAD’S Church in Far Headingley has been trialling material from the discipleship course created by Jesus Shaped People.
Jesus Shaped People builds on five key priorities in the life and ministry of Jesus and St. Chad’s Church decided to do one of these every month since September last year.
The five priorities are: People, teaching, team building, prayer and prophetic challenge.
This is explored through interactive small groups studies, dynamic preaching and lively worship.
Each of the themes takes three weeks, making a fifteen-week programme in total.
Jesus Shaped People is lead by The Reverend Canon Gordon Dey who designed the course and preached at St Chad’s final theme of the course, Prayer, last month.
The Reverend Tom Lusty, 43, the Vicar at St. Chad’s Church said: “We haven’t done the intensive course, we’ve done a very unintensive look at the material and we’ve done it in our own way, not in a strict order.”
He added: “Having looked at the course, I thought it had real integrity.
“I thought we would benefit from using it here and it seemed to me that the idea of the discipleship course is not about imparting information, but really it’s about instilling these values as a Church, as a congregation, as a community.
“I thought if we could incarnate these values, then we will be more faithful to what it is to be disciples of Jesus.
St. Chad’s Church have lots of people in their congregation who have Doctorates as it is located in a university area of Leeds and Reverend Tom Lusty added: “The Jesus Shaped People have had a lot of success in urban priority areas in a very different context from a university themed Church.”
He explained how the Church have adapted the JSP programme to suit their congregation:
The Church’s main service is on Sundays at 9:30am.
Half term holiday swimming crash courses given in Headingley.
One of Swimbrite’s swimming pools. Photo courtesy of Deborah Masser
SWIMMING CRASH courses are being introduced during school holidays for beginners, intermediates and advanced levels.
Swimbrite Swimming School is currently in their eighth year of teaching those of all ages from six months up to 100 years how to swim.
The school follows the ASA National Plan, covering ASA Foundation, Learn to Swim and Coaching, Rookie Lifeguard and Swim and Save Awards.
Deborah Masser, founder and senior swimming instructor of Swimbrite said: “I have been teaching swimming for over 25 years and have a wealth of experience in teaching babies, children and adults of all ages and ability.
“My primary objective is to manage the safety, well being and swimming development of the pupils.”
Swimbrite holds crash courses every February, Easter, May and Summer half term and it involves a lesson every day which hopes to encourage those who attend to learn regularly and progress quicker:
The lessons are held at The Village Hotel and Leisure Club on Otley Road in Headingley and it has been so successful that they are extending branch to Woodhouse Grove in Apperley Lane, Bradford:
Matthew Crowther, leisure club manager of The Village Hotel said: “Swimbrite would be difficult to beat when it comes to reliability, organisation, safety and a passion about teaching swimming.
“Children will look forward to their lessons and want to rebook term after term.”
Swimbrite have also had Elizabeth Wright, a Paralympian attend the school to give a talk about her journey and encourage the pupils to swim.
Plans in place for redevelopment of Headingley Carnegie Stadium.
Credit: Leeds Rhinos’ YouTube
PLANS to improve Headingley Carnegie Stadium have been created after the success of the Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Leeds Rhinos and Yorkshire Carnegie made it become one of the biggest visitor attractions in Leeds.
The plans aim to retain the stadium’s international position in readiness for the economic and social benefits that hosting the Cricket World Cup 2019 and future test match cricket will bring to Leeds and Yorkshire.
Funding will be provided from a combination of public and private funding including Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Leeds Rhinos, to help facilitate the stadium improvement plans.
Leeds Rhinos will provide the majority of the remaining investment through the proposed sale of two sites for housing development located off Weetwood Avenue, Weetwood and off Old Thorpe Lane, Bradford Road, Tingley.
The net receipts from the sale of these sites will be 100% invested into the improvements at Headingley Carnegie Stadium.
The proposals will create an increased capacity Cricket Stadium that will offer the highest standards of playing, practice and training facilities, good quality seating and corporate facilities, state of the art technology and media facilities as well as attractive spaces around the stadium to improve integration with the surrounding Headingley neighbourhood.
For the Rugby Stadium, the proposals will provide a replacement North and South Stand with enhanced facilities for players, fans and visitors.
The new South Stand will also replace some of the Rugby capacity lost by the development of the joint Stand between rugby and cricket and for the first time will include an element of seating within the stand however the standing capacity will still exceed the current level of members in the South Stand.
As part of the proposals, the Club are embarking on a consultation process which will shape and inform the final planning application.
The public will be invited to attend a series of exhibitions to view the plans for Headingley Carnegie Stadium, Weetwood and Tingley and will have the opportunity to discuss the plans with members of the design team and provide feedback.
Leeds Rhinos Chief Executive Gary Hetherington said: “We have been working behind the scenes with Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Leeds City Council for many years and now the vision of a completely re-developed Headingley is a reality.
“For Rugby fans, we will be providing significantly more comfort with much better seating, yet retaining the uniqueness and character of our home.
“Our overall capacity will not increase, but that has never been our aim.
“We have a 90-year-old Main Stand and a South Stand that was condemned six years ago and is in constant need of repair.
“It will present a major construction challenge and inevitably cause some disruption for all teams during that period.
“Our stadium capacity will reduce to just over 13,000 for a period during the 2017 season but we are determined to ensure all our ticketed members are guaranteed access to all games and that’s why the 2016 members will have priority for 2017.
“Headingley has been a wonderful asset of the City for 125 years with a worldwide reputation for sporting drama and excitement and this latest development is another great news story for Leeds and Yorkshire.”
Leeds Rhinos have uploaded a video to their YouTube channel indicating what will be put into place:
The Exhibitions are taking place as follows:
• Monday 8th February, 2016 from 4pm – 7pm
Weetwood Hall – The Bramley Room, Weetwood Hall, Otley Road, Leeds, LS16 5PS
• Tuesday 9th February, 2016 from 4pm – 7pm
Woodkirk Valley Country Club, Leeds Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire, WF12 7JL
• Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th February, 2016 from 4pm – 7pm
Headingley Carnegie Stadium, Carnegie Café Bar, St Michael’s Ln, Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS6 3BR
The exhibition will remain in the Carnegie Cafe Bar at Headingley Carnegie Stadium from Friday 12th February until Monday 15th February.
Big success for Headingley’s first ever “Craft Destash.”
THIS weekend saw the first ever “Craft Destash” flash sale at Headingley’s HEART centre where crafters sell off their surplus materials.
Organised by DesignInspireLive, it saw a huge turnout on Saturday 23rd January for customers wanting to buy items that stall holders were selling off.
Some of the products that were on sale included fabric, jewellery findings, thread, buttons, paper craft, beads, leather, display equipment and more.
Owner of DesignInspireLive, Becky Moore was one of those people who decided to sell all the materials and equipment that they do not use anymore from their cupboards and wardrobes.
“Today was absolutely rammed, it was really packed.” Becky said.
“I never really expected that at all, it was amazing the response we got and some people came from a long way just to be here as well so it wasn’t just local Headingley people.”
Due to its success, the flash sale will be held in the future but it will not be that frequent due to the amount of work that it involves in organising it.
“It was quite a lot of effort to do but you don’t want to get people being bored of the event,” Becky added.
“I think the nice thing was that it’s a really unique event that everyone hadn’t been to before which was really exciting.
“I definitely think I’ll do one in the future but it might be a fair few months away yet.”
Being the first Craft Destash held in Headingley, it means that there is room for improvement and to develop it for the future to gain even more popularity.
DesignInspireLive will have more events this year and the next one will be in a few months time:
Full house for Headingley’s Cafe Lento gig featuring Ellie Coast and Dave Pilla.
FRIDAY night saw Cafe Lento on North Lane in Headingley host one of its live gigs showcasing local talent.
Ellie Coast and her partner Dave Pilla were the invited artists who performed a range of songs infront of a jam-packed venue.
Ellie, 25, a Jazz and Soul musician from Leeds is not new to the cafe as she has been performing there since she was a teenager and knows the owner of Cafe Lento, Richard Lindley, who used to let her perform for free.
“He didn’t have the money to pay his acts and I just wanted to play.” Ellie said.
“It was just so nice for us all because he likes to help me by giving me that gig and I’ve always wanted to do music.
“It’s just a thing that we’ve kept going as I’ve progressed and now he’s progressed to the point where he can pay his artists.”
She decides to perform in such a small place because it is different from her usual “pub gigs” that she does.
“It’s a lovely gig for us because we just get to play whatever we want to play and people come in here to hear something different.” Ellie said.
“It’s nice because it’s such a small place, it creates an intimate atmosphere for the audience, and it’s just really nice for us to have the things that we want to play, heard in such a nice atmosphere and that obviously boosts our popularity and gets more people listening to our stuff.
Comparing a pub gig to a smaller performance in a cafe, she added: “If we’re doing a pub gig, we’re basically employed to just please the audience with things that they’ll know and things that they can enjoy by singing along.
“You’re not being recognised as an artist yourself there, you just play other peoples’ music.
“Whereas here, you get to play your own music and a range of covers that you either just love or have arranged yourself.”
Check out one of Ellie’s performances from the night:
Dave Pilla, 35, is a singer-songwriter based in Leeds who performs with Ellie all the time but Friday night was his first time performing at Cafe Lento.
“It’s the kind of gig as a musician that you want to play” Dave said.
“It’s a quiet, attentive crowd and you can play your own songs.
“I’ve been to a lot of these sorts of gigs in various shapes and sizes and they’re always a joy to play at because you can hear a pin drop.
“There’s a time and a place for ‘rowdy’ gigs and they’re fun as well but I think the kind of stuff that I play and Ellie as well, lends itself to this type of atmosphere.
Check out one of Dave’s performances from the night:
Having live artists play is just one of the reasons why Cafe Lento is so popular.
Owner of the Cafe, Richard Lindley said: “I grew up with alot of music when I was young, my dad was a Jazz guitarist, just as an amateur and I’ve always liked live music.
“So when I started the cafe eight years ago, I thought one thing I wanna do is bring live music into the venue.”
There are not a lot of places in Headingley that do that but Cafe Lento along with White’s Deli in Headingley more than welcome it.
And one thing that Richard thinks sets them apart is the atmosphere that it brings:
For some more of Ellie and Dave’s performances, check out the playlist:
Check out Ellie’s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Soundcloud
Check out Dave’s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Soundcloud
Cafe Lento in Headingley set to host special gig featuring Ellie Coast.
Credit to Ellie’s Twitter @elliecoastmusic
HEADINGLEY is home to many local, independent cafes and one of these, Cafe Lento, is set to bring in something different and unconventional on Friday night.
Ellie Coast, a singer-songwriter from Leeds, is set to perform on Friday 22nd January from 7pm onwards along with her partner, Dave Pilla.
Ellie has been playing at Cafe Lento since she was a teenager and she said: “I know and love the owner, he is so kind and passionate about music.
“Every time I play there, Richard makes us Chilli Con Carne and the audience are always so respectful – you can hear a pin drop.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to appreciate our own vocals as most gigs we do are to please an audience wanting popular covers.
“This gig is one where the audience want to see our emotion, hear the delicacies of our voices and hear something they may not have heard before.
“These are the ones we play for and to top all this, it will be the first time my partner has played there with me and I’m excited for everyone to hear his music.”
If you want to hear this special gig, then go on down to Cafe Lento in Headingley on Friday.
West Yorkshire Police identifies Headingley resident as Hyde Park murder victim.
DETECTIVES investigating a murder following the discovery of a body in the Hyde Park area of Leeds at the weekend have identified the victim.
Firefighters were called about a bin on fire at Hyde Park Terrace at around 7pm on Saturday 16th January where they found the body of Michael Ayres, 60, from Headingley.
Two local men, aged 37 and 50, were arrested on Saturday night on suspicion of murder and a third man, 61, from Leeds, was arrested on Sunday 17th January on suspicion of murder.
Detective Superintendent Simon Atkinson of the West Yorkshire Police Homicide and Major Enquiry Team said: “We have now informed Mr. Ayres’ family about his death and they are understandably devastated.
“Three men remain in custody having been arrested on suspicion of his murder and our enquiries are ongoing.
“We are still keen to hear from anyone who saw anything suspicious in the vicinity of St. Augustine’s Wrangthorn church hall in the period leading up to when Mr. Ayres’ body was found.
“We are particularly keen to hear from anyone who saw three men pulling a wheelie bin along Hyde Park Terrace at about tea-time on Saturday.
“While we are still establishing the full circumstances surrounding his death, we can say that this appears to have been an incident involving people that are known to each other and there is no threat to the wider community in that area.
“We recognise however that this incident will cause concern among people living there and officers from the local neighbourhood policing team are conducting increased patrols of the area to provide reassurance.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team via 101 or call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously at 0800 555 111.
Headingley residents tackle cold weather for the last litter clean-up of 2015.
IT has been just over a month since Headingley Litterarti had its first successful session in cleaning the streets of Headingley.
We saw a group of local residents wandering the streets of Headingley Mount and Headingley Avenue picking up the litter that they found and sorting them into the appropriate bags, ready to be collected by the Council.
Despite the December chill, yesterday was the second but also last clean-up of 2015 with the volunteers donning on santa hats to get into the festive spirit in the lead-up to Christmas to clear the streets around Ashville Road.
Even though the number of participants this time was not as high as last month’s, everyone put in more effort to collect a similar amount with the same unusual items found such as: a tyre rim, a metal door handle and a spoon.
Joe Salmon, a Green Party activist and the brains behind the group said why he thinks this is different to the rest:
Mickayla Ireland, a volunteer at Headingley Litterarti explained why Headingley has a lot of litter:
Catherine Warr, member of Green Peace in Leeds and also another volunteer, said she joined Headingley Litterarti because she thinks the cleaner the environment, the better you will feel:
Headingley Litterarti meets every second sunday of each month and they’re hoping more residents and volunteers will turn up to help raise awareness.
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