How two groups in Harehills are tackling crime and social inequality

Dawn O’Keefe, Todd Hannula and co-founders ploughed £4.5m into buying and renovating a derelict Victorian school, creating Shine.

-> What is it like to police such a diverse city as Leeds?

Todd says: “There are lots of problems in the world – hunger, crime, housing – if there was a three-legged stool and you fix one, you help the stool stand up. If you keep people healthy, happy and educate them – you have a society where you have opportunity.”

Shine works with women prisoners to give them work experience and a wage which is saved up for when they are released and some end up with a full-time job at Shine. There are meeting rooms and event spaces for hire and regular bookings include global investment banking firm Goldman Sachs and the NHS, which Todd believes mixes backgrounds, challenges pre-conceptions and raises aspirations.

He said: “The class system has broken down over the last two or three decades but exists in a gregarious way. People stay in their areas, live in a bubble. Puncture that bubble and mix people from different backgrounds .“Goldman Sachs and the NHS come to the area and have a better appreciation for what is going on, realise they can park their car and it doesn’t get nicked, book a room and that makes a difference to those people working here because they have a job.”

Shine also stages a theatre production for 250 children, hosts cooking classes, a nursery and is sowing the seeds for a project to plant trees and create green space.

"Locals think ‘we can have nice things’, many people think that is not possible. Having a space like this - you raise people’s aspirations immediately.”

While Shine has been based in Harehills for 13 years, a much newer scheme, set up in the wake of a teenager's murder two years ago is also making strides for change.

Two years ago Irfan Wahid, 16, was stabbed in the street as he got off the school bus. The row with his killer started over a girl that they both had affection for. It rocked the close-knit community of Harehills to the core.

Irfan’s uncles and cousins wanted to bring the young community of Harehills together instead of it being driven apart.

It started with sport in a derelict room at the local mosque but soon became apparent how much need there was for it and it escalated; £70,000 later and with some help from Leeds City Council, local joiners and fitters and the Infinity Community Centre opened.

There are now gym sessions, cooking classes, trips to the seaside and summer sports in the park.

One of the stipulations was there would be a dedicated outreach worker run by Leeds Street Team – an organisation that gives young people positive and alternative pathways.

Adam Aslam is the youth worker and using his local knowledge gets to the young people who aren’t engaging with youth services and and might be headed down the wrong path. He said: “We have an outreach coordinator who is 17. He knows the streets really well and will tell volunteers these are the streets where stuff is going on. We will go and talk to these guys about what we are doing.”

One lad was particularly hard to reach and at 15 was “drinking, drug-dealing and womanising”.

Now 17, he is a volunteer with the street team. Mr Aslam added: “I said to him, let me find you an alternative way of earning some cash. A lot are not difficult cases, they want to prove themselves and want cash to do it. Some said get rid of him, he is trouble but I said no and now I can’t plan things without him.”