Shoppers stray off high street for their Christmas gifts in Headingley.

IT IS the countdown to Christmas and this weekend saw the Design@HEART Christmas Market in Headingley.

People are staying away from high street brands to look for something unique and original, and Headingley has some of the finest artists designing and making quality products right here on local peoples’ doorsteps.

The event saw over 25 crafts people and artists showcase their products for shoppers to buy which includes: ceramics, glass, textiles, prints, photographs, jewellery and many more other gifts.

Claire Riley owns Little Shop of Lathers and Jo Whitehead is an artist working in fused glass under the name of Glassprimitif and they said their views on why shopping independently and supporting local businesses is better:

Jo’s background as a textile artist shines through her work, she said:  “I approach my glass design as any other surface.

I love vibrant colours and my main influence is mid twentieth century textile designs and home furnishings.”

Fleure Gething is from Headingley and she set up her stall selling high quality cards from her designs based off famous people or portraits or English nature.

She also expressed her views on the matter of shopping independently:

Some other artists who set up their own stalls are Diana Lambert, the owner of Silver and Sparkle, who had a successful career in IT for 20 odd years before packing it all in to become a silversmith.

She said: “I decided to give up my well-paid, secure ‘real’ job, and start up my own small business.

It was very scary, but I wouldn’t go back in to the corporate world for anything.”

She now sells her jewellery all over the country, and most especially her in Yorkshire.

Rebecca Carr, an artist and illustrator who set up her Lalabuds stall at the market, uses traditional and contemporary drawing skills by combining pencil work with digitally painted layers.

She as well as Bob Bryant and Mary Cormican said why they think people should shop independently.

Bob Bryant is a designer-maker from Cumbria who travelled all the way down to Headingley just to set up his stall, Humblewood, and sell his products.

He sells homewares and gifts with a colourful, contemporary twist such as vases, clocks, platters, jewellery and others.

Mary Cormican is the owner of Gemstone Boutique that is made up of beaded jewellery kits.

So if a friend, family or even yourself are thinking about doing some last minute christmas shopping, then have a think about going to small, independent shops and support not only their business, but the community.

Local people take action to help clean Headingley streets from litter.

Some of the volunteers who took part in the Headingley clean-up. L-R: Tim Goodall, George Hodgkinson, Martin Hodgkinson, Chris, Tessa Jenkins, Joe Salmon, Jaimes Lewis Moran and Ben.

 

A GROUP of residents from Headingley in Leeds have come together to help tackle the problem of littering in the area.

This Sunday (8th November 2015) saw the first ever meeting of the “Headingley Litterarti” group as they cleaned the streets by Headingley stadium armed with litter pickers supplied by the Council.

The local people and volunteers who attended from around Leeds targeted Headingley Mount and Headingley Avenue, picking up and sorting the rubbish into the appropriate bags for general waste, glass, paper, metal and plastics.

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Local activist, Joe Salmon said: “We’ve had a really great turn out, with loads more people than expected turning up despite the miserable weather to fill bags and bags with rubbish and recycling.”

He first raised the idea at a meeting and decided to take action:

The group plan to do a special Christmas clean-up on Sunday 13th December dressed in Christmas themed costumes and are inviting more locals to join the campaign to keep Headingley clean.

A volunteer of the Litterarti, Mickayla Ireland said: “The purpose of the group is to try and get the community involved in looking after the places where we live.

“We are aiming to get local schools involved and hopefully the student unions – as we have a large student population in the area.”

Retired nurse and volunteer, Tessa Jenkins said it’s nicer to walk the streets when it’s cleaner:

The clean-up also saw members of The Green Party and Green Peace attend to help out by collecting a wide variety of rubbish including a skateboard, badminton rackets and laughing gas canisters.

It is hoped that the next meet-up will attract a bigger audience.

Volunteer of the Headingley clean-up and candidate for The Green Party, Jaimes Lewis Moran said travelling to Headingley from Seacroft was worth the trip:

Bins in Headingley are normally collected on a Wednesday and residents have been advised to take them back in once they’ve been emptied, as leaving them out on the streets will make it hard for wheelchair users and families with pushchairs to walk.