Sam was moved to get involved with the refugee collection at St James Woodside after seeing the photo of drowned Syrian toddler Alan Kurdi – an image which made global headlines in 2015. Sam took the lead in sorting donations. Everything was organised and itemised, using lists given by the charities. A collection was made and sent to Calais (through Care4Calais) and another directly to people fleeing ISIS (through Samara’s Aid Appeal). Samara’s Aid Appeal then requested that people put together bags containing basic items and gave a list of what was needed. Volunteers made up dignity bags containing sanitary items and smiley bags containingRead More →

“This is not about the food” Cliff has been attending Lister Hill Baptist Church for 30 years. A year after retiring from his job in IT, Cliff felt God was calling him to give up everything he was involved in at church to make space for something new. Cliff started volunteering with Leeds North and West Foodbank as a driver, before taking on the role of logistics manager. This began as 20 hours a week but with the pandemic became full time. His role included managing the warehouse and coordinating volunteers and the collection and drop off of food. Cliff says this was God’s planRead More →

Below are a variety of ways people can support refugees in Leeds. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list. Firstly, please look at what organisations are saying is the best way to respond. Donations of essential items In the Horsforth area, a group are collecting donations of men’s clothes and shoes/trainers, particularly for new arrivals to a local hotel. You can take them to Horsforth Community Cafe on a Monday morning or to Holy Name Church, Otley Old Road any morning Tuesday-Friday 9am – 11.30 noon. Please ring Amanda on 0113 2678257 before dropping them off. THANK YOU. Below are some of theRead More →

  The Horsforth Shed was officially opened on Sunday 25th July 2022. The Shed has now got regular groups in on Thursdays and Friday’s. To find out more contact Richard Hamlyn on horsforthshed@gmail.com     Report of the opening of the Shed                     Over the last 2 years, led by Pete Gillions volunteers have transformed the interior and exterior of the the old and rather dilapidated old Scout Hut at St James.  Whilst Covid has slowed down progress and continues to mean not everything will be perfectly in place, a visit to the shed will showRead More →