My LEEDS 2023 was a celebration of all the people and stories that make up Leeds. Several projects made up My LEEDS 2023.
Throughout the Year of Culture, 33 Neighbourhood Hosts – local residents of Leeds – participated in a paid training scheme and collaborated with their local communities to create cultural events in each ward of the city. This programme of events was called My LEEDS Summer. To support participation in My LEEDS Summer, the Neighbourhood Hosts designed a community grants scheme and people from across Leeds were invited to apply for funding and take part and create events in their neighbourhood.
Artist Keith Khan was commissioned to create ‘The Gift’, a new piece of artwork inspired by Leeds heritage and culture to be gifted to the city. For inspiration, Keith met each of the Neighbourhood Hosts and visited their ward, speaking to local residents and getting to know the neighbourhood.
Alongside the Neighbourhood Hosts, seven local artists were commissioned to co-create cultural activity with their community, as part of a strand of work called ‘My World, My City, My Neighbourhood’.
Finally, school pupils were invited to take part by applying for a grant to create cultural activity at an event in their school’s calendar.
Each of these interwoven strands came together to engage communities across the city in My LEEDS 2023.
The visualisations below present the My LEEDS 2023 events which took place.
My LEEDS 2023
Number of events
177
Total activities held as part of My LEEDS 2023.
Number of wards hosting events
33
Number of wards hosting events held as part of My LEEDS 2023.
Total audience
51,570
Online and in person attendances across all My LEEDS 2023 events.
My LEEDS Summer events
35
Number of My LEEDS Summer activities held.
My LEEDS Summer audience
31,280
Total attendances of My LEEDS Summer events online and in person.
Summer community grant applications
512
Total number of Community Grant Applications.
Schools grant applications
61
Total number of Schools Grant Applications.
Neighbourhood hosts
33
Locals working with LEEDS 2023 to organise celebration events.
My World, My City, My Neighbourhood commissions
7
.
The Gift
The Gift is an artwork that celebrates communities across Leeds. Made by Keith Khan, the artwork has been inspired by conversations in local areas with LEEDS 2023 Neighbourhood Hosts and historical or anecdotal facts. Based on these conversations Keith created 33 motifs, a unique motif for each ward. These designs were then printed onto fabric and designed into wearable clothing. This clothing was taken to My LEEDS Summer events where audiences could try them on and have their photograph taken in a photo booth.
As part of the My LEEDS 2023 project, our 33 Neighbourhood Hosts planned
celebration events in each ward of the city. As part of this, they recruited individuals, community groups and volunteers to apply for a small grant to
celebrate their ward and show off their talents.
This hexmap presents how many applications were received from each ward. There are 1 applications which are not
mapped to a ward. Darker colours represent more applications made per ward.
As part of My LEEDS 2023 project, LEEDS 2023 offered 33 schools the chance to
enhance an existing event in their summer term or plan a new event in their autumn term with a grant of £300.
This hexmap presents the number of grant applications we have received from schools in each ward. Darker coloured hexagons represent more applications from each ward.
Total active participants
1091
those who had their photo taken wearing the Gift wearables
Total active engagements
1530
Those who engaged with the pop-up but did not partipate in trying on the wearables.
Digital artwork engagement
4374
Number of page views from 16 July 2023 to 9 January 2024.
The Gift: A City Without Seams total audience
3014
Total audience numbers for The Gift: A City Without Seams exhibition (from 21st to 24th September)
Known Limitations and Issues
There are two other strands of events to be added to this page - My World, My City, My Neighbourhood for which a 2022 report was produced detailing the impact of the seed projects. In 2023 a handful of these projects are being taken forward. Data from these projects will be displayed on this page.
The Gift, an artistic project with artist Keith Khan is also part of My LEEDS 2023, data is currently not being displayed relating to that.