Leeds Festival of Kindness, Compassion and Wellbeing launches to help with effects of COVID 19 and Black Lives Matter on mental health

It will be the first Leeds Festival of Kindness, Compassion and Wellbeing with a week of free events that people can attend from their own home.

The idea for the festival built upon the Compassionate City Awards that were started in 2018 but has gathered pace in the light of events in 2020 such as the coronavirus pandemic and the effects of that on health and the economy and also issues that have been raised by the Black Lives Matter movement.

The festival aims to support and inspire many more people to get involved in making Leeds, and beyond, a great place to live with a different theme for each day.

They are being kinder to yourself, in relationships, in business, public and private spaces, communities, the planet and nature.

A programme of webinars, videos, new performance releases, interviews, panel discussions and challenging conversations have been arranged for throughout the week from Sunday September 6 to 12. The first event starts at 7pm on Sunday with Coun Judith Blake.

She said kindness and compassion is "the bedrock of human relationships" and added: "We all need to recognise its value and work together to continue to do the good work and make sure it grows.”

Her talk will be followed by the author, environment and peace activist Satish Kumar, who will talk about ‘Compassion At All Levels’.

Other events during the week include a talk with Laura Liddon of Yorkshire Dance to discuss the joy of dance, The Performance Ensemble which will be a collection of stories and anecdotes from older people and a messy play session with children.

Another highlight is set to be a panel with Andy Brogan (Easier Inc), Mark Hollander of Leeds 2023 and Stuart Bullock from LeedsDigital who will be talking about whether private business and public enterprise can help build a better future?

The festival has been organised by volunteers and is supported by several partner organisations, including Leeds City Council, Voluntary Action Leeds, Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds, Leeds Church Institute, Network of Wellbeing, The Heart Movement, The William Temple Foundation, Civil Society Alliance, Carnegie UK Trust, the One Leadership Movement and Caravan of Unity.

For full details of all events visit kinderleeds.org and join the conversation at #KinderLeeds.

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Thank you

Laura Collins