Heritage Open Days 2022

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9th – 18th September 2022

Heritage Open Days

Heritage Open Days is England’s largest festival of history and culture, bringing together over 2,000 local people and organisations, and thousands of volunteers. Every year in September, places across the country throw open their doors to celebrate their heritage, community and history. It’s your chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences – and it’s all FREE.

The events this year are a mix of in-person and online events – many are both so you can choose between getting out and about in the local area or taking part in something further afield without needing to leave home.

Leeds Inspired have pulled together a selection of what is happening in Leeds: https://www.leedsinspired.co.uk/collection/heritage-open-days-leeds-2022

All the events can be found here https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/visiting

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

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Sad news today, the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Monarch for 70 years and also a mother, grandmother and great grandmother – our thoughts are with the family.

Civic buildings in Leeds will be lit in purple in the hours of darkness during the official period of mourning and the flags have been lowered to half mast.

Leeds City Council have opened an online book of condolences for residents who wish to leave a message and pay tribute https://bookofcondolences.leeds.gov.uk/

A physical book of condolence will be available at Leeds Civic Hall

Cost of living/energy bills help – update

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Government today announced the new energy price guarantee. This will start on 1st October and will cap the energy costs for a household with ‘typical’ use at £2500 (it is currently £1971). The Energy Price Guarantee limits the amount households can be charged per unit of gas or electricity. So your exact bill will continue to depend on how much energy you use.

If you have fixed your tariff you can either stay on this, or can leave and switch to the new subsidised tariffs with no exit penalties. There will be some discount applied to existing fixed rates as part of this scheme so you may have to work out which tariff benefits you most.

The £400 payment to all homes this winter will still be paid – this is to be spread over 6 months, as a credit on your bill, a reduction in direct debits or by voucher for those on pre-payment meters.

For those who pay electricity costs via their landlord, equivalent help is promised but there are no details yet.

The other, previously announced, cost of living payments for those on means tested benefits, people over state pension age and those who receive disability benefits will go ahead as planned.

While this is welcome news compared to the £3549 cap that was due to come into effect in October it is still an increase of more than 25% on top of the already extremely high cap. If you are struggling to afford your energy bills please reach out for help.

Contact your supplier first – they have an obligation to try and help you and many suppliers have set up hardship funds.

Caring Together members – or anyone over 55 in Woodhouse, Little London or Leeds city centre – speak to us and we will help you to explore your options re getting help with your bills or seeing if you are entitled to any additional income.

We will also be hosting some information sessions with the Energy Efficiency Worker from Green Doctor Leeds, where you can come along and have a cuppa and have a chat about your current energy bills and energy efficiency:

Monday 12th September at Caring Together premises, 127 Woodhouse Street – 11am -12.30pm

Thursday 27th October and Thursday 24th November at Little London Community Centre 2.30pm-4pm

“Mayor’s Fares” start today on West Yorkshire buses

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From today fares for single bus journeys within West Yorkshire will be capped at £2 and a day ticket will be reduced to £4.50 as part of the Mayors Fares project introduced to make public transport more affordable.

Of course this won’t affect you if you are able to travel for free with a senior or disabled bus pass but for those who don’t yet qualify for one of these, or if you need to travel before 9.30am when the pass can be used, this will be the most you now have to pay

The Mayor's Fares Illustration Graphic

The maximum single fare of £2 and maximum daily fare of £4.50 will apply across West Yorkshire, on all service operators, on journeys within West Yorkshire. These are not applicable to Park & Ride services, football and other events specials, or the parts of journeys that are outside West Yorkshire.

More information about this and other bus tickets here: https://wymetro.com/mayorsfares

Carnival is back!!

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Leeds West Indian Carnival is back for 2022 after a 2 year break because of the pandemic

https://leedscarnival.co.uk/

The main event is BankHoliday Monday 29th August. The Parade leaves Potternewton Park at 2pm turns left down Harehills Avenue, right onto Harehills Lane and right again down Roundhay Road; right onto Barrack Road, right again onto Chapeltown Road before turning right onto Harehills Avenue and back into Potternewton Park.

There will also be lots happening in the park throughout the day and the parade will be live streamed to the screen at the side of the main stage.

Leeds Carnival Parade route

1001 Stories

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Are you over 60 with a story to share?

1001 Stories is a mass-participation project that sits at the heart of Leeds’ 2023 Year of Culture.

“A collaboration between The Performance Ensemble, Leeds Playhouse, LEEDS 2023, Leeds Museums and Galleries and Leeds Older People’s Forum, the joint-project will put the voices, histories and stories of older people centre-stage by gathering 1001 stories from those aged 60 and over and creating new artistic work based on these stories.

We believe that everybody is creative and has a story to tell, this could be anything from a funny anecdote, to a milestone memory. Your story does not have to be a long one; if it is true and means something to you, then we want to hear it. 

Our aim is to present a vast range of experiences from the people of Leeds and to demonstrate that the stories of older people have cultural value – whether that is by making others laugh, think, feel or simply engage with a story that is different from their own.

Anyone over the age of 60 with a connection to Leeds is eligible to take part; whether you were born here, have previously lived or worked here, or currently call Leeds home.

If you are over 60 and have a story you would like to share – no matter how big or small, long or short, wild or everyday, we’d love to hear from you.”

You can find lots of information on The Performance Ensemble website https://theperformanceensemble.com/1001stories/ including a link to submit a story online or you can view some of the stories so far

The team want to make 1001 Stories accessible so that as many people as possible can take part. If you need further assistance in submitting your story, or would like to discuss the project with the team, you can contact them directly using the details below.

Email: 1001stories@leedsplayhouse.org.uk

Call or message: 07846 575377

Feel Good Festival at Little London Community Centre

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Feel Good Festival - Day One, 22 August | Event in Woodhouse | AllEvents.in

Together We Can are excited to invite you to join them in their summer celebration, “What Makes You Feel Good?” Explore new ways to express yourself, uncover some new talents and share with us what makes you feel good.

Together We Can is Leeds Involving People’s lived experience mental health network.

There are loads of different activities to try, from drumming to balancing chakras, celebrating neurodiversity to creating your own tissue paper posies and many more!

Day One is at Little London Community Centre and there are also events at Beeston Village Community Centre on Tuesday 23rd and at New Headingley Club on Wednesday 24th.

You can register here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/feel-good-festival-day-one-tickets-387431426827 and you can also book on individual activities here or it is ok to turn up on the day.