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.”

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.

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DesignInspireLive will have more events this year and the next one will be in a few months time: