We welcomed colleagues from across the city on Friday 27th March for our Leaders’ Breakfast Meeting at the Carr Manor Community Hub.
The session brought together leaders from education, health, business and community sectors to strengthen networks and spark new collaborations.
Thank you to Inspire North, whose generous sponsorship made the event possible. Inspire North work to support those facing mental health problems, dementia, homelessness, domestic abuse, and resettlement to build a brighter future. To open the breakfast, Sinéad Cregan, Inspire North’s Director of Development and Innovation, joined us to promote their upcoming Peace Conference.
The Leeds Learning Alliance are proud to be working in partnership with Inspire North on this project, and the conference is free to attend. Key speakers at the event include Professor Hilary Cremin (Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge), Debbie Watters (Co-Director & Founder, Northern Ireland Alternatives), and Tom Shaw (Director of Research and Development, Carr Manor Community School). Find out more about the conference and book your place here.
Professor Shearer West CBE (Vice-Chancellor, University of Leeds), joined us to speak about her personal journey and her vision for the future of Leeds, focusing on partnerships and shared practice among our establishments to improve outcomes for our young people. One example of this intra-organisation collaboration is the Junior Detectives programme which was developed by the university alongside the NHS, Leeds Crown Court, and Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College. The programme involves Key Stage 3 children from secondary schools across Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield investigating a fictional knife crime to learn about the intricate process carried out when dealing with a serious crime.
Following a short break, Sir John Battle (Former MP for Leeds West) shared his own personal story as a local MP, then government minister, and his current work volunteering on a range of projects including the Joseph Aspdin Skills Trust and a local men’s mental health walking group. Sir John focused on a similar theme as Professor Shearer – one of collaboration within the city to drive forward opportunity for our young people. He argued it is essential to make possible the recognition of social agency, with the LLA drawing in from as far as possible wider communities, engaging with community centres, charity groups, faith centres and sports clubs to develop their capacity as a foundation for a long term vision for Leeds’ future.
Recordings of both talks are now available on our Members’ Zone (available to colleagues from our Members), and we are looking forward to the next breakfast meeting which will take place on Friday 19th June at CATCH. Further details and invitations for this event will be released soon.
Thank you also to our CATCH volunteers who provided valuable support for the event, welcoming our guests and offering a helping hand at every opportunity.
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