Celebrating Harehills: A Day of Unity and Diversity
What a wonderful morning we had at Harehills Together, celebrating the rich diversity and strong community spirit of Harehills!
The people of Harehills came together to honour the strength and vibrancy of their community. The event was filled with delicious food from around the world—including dishes from Africa, Jamaica, Pakistan, and Sudan—alongside lively dance performances, music, and heartfelt poetry.
One of our collective members, Njaay Mboge, who works at Give a Gift Leeds, played a key role in bringing us together for this special day. Give a Gift is a registered charity and grassroots-led organization dedicated to supporting refugees, asylum seekers, the destitute, BAME communities, and other disadvantaged groups.
Recognizing the significance of this celebration, our collective was proud to show up and support the event—especially since many of our members live in Harehills.
We were also honoured to welcome Lady Mayoress Abagail Marshall, whose uplifting words of encouragement and praise for Harehills left a lasting impact on everyone in attendance.
This gathering was a true testament to the power of community, unity, and cultural celebration. Here’s to many more moments and golden memories , like this in Harehills!
Below are Naay Mboge,are thoughts on the day
“Me today on stage after so many years.
On my morning bus ride, I was so nervous. But a friend came to my aid and made me laugh so hard I forgot my nerves.
By the time I got on stage, I had lost all my nerves. It felt like TAMA days again many years back at UTG except this was poetry 📜
But it went very well, well everyone said so. One woman even came up to me and commended on how good my poetry was and said to “never stop writing” ✍️
Thank you #ClearOutYourCloset for helping me take the stage again.”
The Ship
Aye the ship!
We cannot remove the ship from UK’s story
The ship which on the ocean
With different waves brought many here
Adding to UK’s story
From the East to West
To the North to the South
The ship coursed the Atlantic Ocean
And they brought the people of gold and groundnuts while giving back gunpowder
Most fought all the way for being ripped from their home
Some threw themselves overboard
For home is where the heart is and theirs were left behind
The remaining who made it brought another shade to the UK
Adding more culture to the UK story
Aye the Caribbean ship!
Aye Aye Captain they cheered
Eyes glowing as they pictured the streets of England paved with gold
As so the story teller told
Only upon arriving it was more glitter than gold
But they made life in the cold
And again added a shade to the UK story
Aye stowaway ships of the past
And the unfit carriers of the present
Smuggling sneaking migrants in for survival
For their countries are either dying from war or starving and slowly dying from economic battles
The fit and lucky ones who finally make it
Also adds another shade to the UK story if allowed to stay
Even as each come here differently
With different waves
The ocean unites us
And together we add to the UK story
Enriching the culture
Spicing it up with more music and dance
Food and drink and dress
Dressing up what is now the diversity in the UK and the many cities
Such as Leeds
Leeds, the city where lies the now Seacroft Hospital!
Which was built to tend to warriors of World War One
And selflessly nurse the wounds of those with infectious disease
For warriors are not always borne on the battlefield
At least in Leeds we have shown that to be true
As being a warrior is a matter of the stirring heart
So aye aye captain for bringing some of us here!
By:
Njaimeh Mboge