A celebration of kindness and compassion took place in the stunning venue of Left Bank Leeds with the return of Kinder Leeds Festival earlier this month. The event showcased the city’s many projects and community initiatives which promote wellbeing.
The festival, first held in September 2020, aims to raise the profile of compassion and
wellbeing in Leeds. This year’s event, on 11 November, saw over 20 individuals,
businesses and organisations – including MindWell – host interactive stalls and workshops
to spread the word about their work and messages.
Held in Left Bank Leeds, a former church-turned community and event space in Hyde Park,
the festival was a family fun day, with games and activities for all ages. From a balloon
artist to face painting, and Henna art as well as music and food.
The festival was based around three main themes – environmental wellbeing, financial
wellbeing and mental and physical wellbeing. The aim was to highlight the importance of these
topics and show the community of Leeds what support is available for themselves, their
families, and the people they care about.
MindWell ran a free origami workshop at the event as part of our Give a Hoot campaign
which urges people to create an owl and share their wishes for the future of Leeds.
Siobhan Drane, MindWell’s engagement specialist, said it was a “wonderful” event to be
part of, to promote the Give a Hoot campaign as well as the MindWell website and all it can
offer to support the mental health of people in Leeds.
She said: “Our owl-making station proved really popular on the day so we were very busy.
We had some great conversations with people so it was really great to be involved.”
David Billington, of Full Circle Funerals, who were part of the volunteer-led team which
organised this year’s festival, described the event as a “storming success”.
“The event went beautifully, with loads of amazing activities for all ages, from some
of the most impactful charities and organisations across the city coming to showcase the
work they do and what they hope to achieve in the future.”“It was so well attended by the community, with around 200 people coming to get involved
on the day.”“Thank you so much to everyone that got involved to help spread more kindness in the
David Billington, of Full Circle Funerals
world.”
David said plans are already underway for next year’s Kinder Leeds Festival, with an open
meeting organised for 11.00am on Monday 19 February at Full Circle Funerals in Bramley for anyone
who wants to help organise or take part.
Anyone interested in being involved can contact David directly on David@fullcirclefunerals.co.uk.
For more information on Kinder Leeds, visit kinderleeds.org.uk.