Pyramid of Arts work with people with learning disabilities in groups and one to one to discover, explore and enjoy the arts and to develop as artists to the full extent of their abilities and ambitions.

They run Development Teams which involve one artist with a learning disability working one-to-one with a non-learning disabled professional artist.

Pyramid of Arts worked with us on our third cookbook, Secret Dishes From Around the World 3. They commissioned the fantastic artist William Stapleton to create an oil painting for the project.

Cafe Leep is a social enterprise in Leeds that operates a fully functioning cafe and provides training placements to adults with learning disabilities who are looking to gain catering qualifications and find work if they feel ready.

Our partnership with Cafe Leep includes providing them with free access to our Cooking & Nutrition Portal and they are able to refer people for free places on our public cooking events that use the ‘buy one, give one’ model. They hosted our cookbook launch event in Leeds and remain an important partner in our collective effort to fight food poverty!

Helping Aid is a charitable organisation committed to fighting food poverty in Leeds. The enterprise was established in 2020 in response to the pandemic, and runs a foodbank on Newton Hill Road where donated food is distributed to those who need it most. In 2021, the organisation began collaborating with FareShare’s ‘FareShare Go’ program, building ties with local supermarkets to make sure that no surplus food goes to waste. Over the course of 2021, Helping Aid was able to supply Leeds residents with over thirteen thousand meals. Helping Aid has continued to develop these connections, and last year received a grant from Waitrose Meanwood for their work with the Leeds community. Other than their central foodbank project, Helping Aid has also coordinated several Youth Development Schemes, and runs a youth program in collaboration with New Horizon Community School.

We also respect the work of Leeds Bereavement Forum – a local charity seeking to improve and expand bereavement services across the city. The organisation runs a free service without the need for referrals, providing information and coaching to professionals working in areas related to bereavement and helping those in need to find the support that they require. Leeds Bereavement Forum has run several Grief Awareness Weeks to destigmatize discourse on death and mourning, and has worked in partnership with Dying Matters and Full Circle Funerals to coordinate local projects supporting those struggling with grief. As a community organisation, the Forum regularly organises conferences on bereavement, ensuring that locals have access to the advice of experts in sectors relating to grief, therapy and palliative care.

Our Community Cookery School team visited Leeds as part of the Secret Dishes From Around the World book tour in 2021. Whilst we were there, we spoke to Alice Clayden of Pyramid of Arts, who worked with us to commission the artwork for the French section of the cookbook. We then spoke to Maisie Hirshhorn, who shared her experience of working at Café Leep – the host venue of our book launch in the city. You can listen to both conversations on our Share Your Secrets podcast, which is available for free via Spotify, Google and Apple!