Week 55: Penny

I'm 36 years old, live in Headingley and teach Roman History at the University of Leeds. I moved to Leeds six years ago to take up my job at the University, and have really fallen for the city since. I love all the quirky and passionate things which go on here - the independent cinemas, arts scene, alternative scene, dances, cafes, restaurants, local activism and history events - and I love how Headingley manages to be a concentrated microcosm of the very best quirkiness and passion all by itself. I also feel like there's still a huge amount to discover here, and that's partly what I want to do in my week on the People of Leeds account - get to know 'my' Leeds better by tweeting about it, and hear about other people's Leedses (can that be a word?) as well.

 

My job means that the University is obviously very much at the centre of 'my' Leeds, so I'm hoping to provide a bit of an insight into my working life there. I won't talk about individual students, but I'll try to get across what University life is all about from the point of view of the staff. I'm also sure to have plenty to say about my academic subject, Roman history. You can expect me to report news stories about recent finds or research in my field, and talk about the similarities and differences between ancient and modern life. Out of work, I can be found out and about in Headingley, in town, or wherever interesting things are happening. Oh, and I have a camera on my phone, so can safely predict that there will be plenty of pictures of whatever I'm up to during my week as a Person of Leeds. :-)

 

Looking forward to meeting you all.

Week 54: Lizzie

I live in the northernmost part of Leeds - Otley (some even try to say it’s not Leeds – pah say I!). However, I grew up from 16 to 26 living in Hyde Park. I work in Leeds, my business is Leeds based and I love going out in Leeds!
From Monday to Wednesday, I work for the Parent Partnership Service. I support families who have children with Special Educational Needs, providing impartial support, advice and information with issues around education. This is something of a passion of mine because I am a parent of a child with disabilities.

I had my daughter at 18 years old, living in a homeless hostel for women run by the Salvation army in Bramley. I looked at her and I knew that I wanted to do better for her. At 5 months old, she got meningitis and I was told that she was going to die. She was in a coma for about a month, but luckily she came through it. Luckier still, she has no brain damage or hearing loss. She has had to have her legs broken and re-set, knees stabilised and hips operated on repeatedly since she was four. She’s brave and amazing. I’m a very proud mum of a 13 year old girl.

I also have a little boy, Ash who is 4. Because of him, I can now identify about 20 species of dinosaur and have whole conversations in Piratese (Pirates and Farmers are pretty much interchangeable). He’s small, boundlessly bouncy and does the best grinch brows this side of the Pennines.

My partner is Pete. Patient Pete we should call him. He is one of the very few bona fide geniuses (genii?) I’ve ever met. He has so many degrees/masters they are coming out of his ears, one of which he completed in 14 weeks, which was an experiment by M.I.T./Harvard to see if very smart people learn faster. Turns out, they do. He’s halfway through his PHD in computer sciences.
He works shifts, these are very bad for your health. We wanted to do something which one day could replace his shift allowance...

So, we own guestlistleeds.co.uk. We started it because there are so many brilliant places in Leeds, and we want to share them. Ok, yes, and we hope to make a few pence at the same time!

I have come to love doing guestlistleeds.co.uk more than I ever imagined. I love meeting new people, I love discovering awesome places and testing the food & drinks there. And, I love coming up with creative new ideas to help people and work in partnership with them!

I may rant, I hope I’ll make you laugh and I hope to introduce you to new things – I expect you to do the same! Challenge me – I love a good debate!

Week 53: Kirsty

Hello! I'm Kirsty, but if you're a regular follower of the account you'll know me better as ADMIN.

I'm the person who set up peopleofleeds, and this week we celebrate our FIRST BIRTHDAY! So il taking over the account as I was the first person to curate it. I'll be showing off some gems of Leeds, some of my favourite places, and some special peopleofleeds celebrations.

When I'm not adminning PoL, you can find me running events across the city, working for the council and drinking coffee.

Week 52: Isobel

Hi, I'm Isobel. I was born and bred in West Yorkshire and moved to the city of Leeds itself in 2011. I’m a 26 year old lover of Leeds and all it offers, who loves baking, reading, knitting, blogging, travelling, dancing, theatre-going and gallery attending. My mission is to keep banging on about how awesome Leeds is until people believe it, then make the most of it! In my spare time I do a bit of waitressing to pay those pesky bills.

I'm looking forward to tweeting, but feeling nervous thanks to all the fabulous people who have gone before! I imagine I'll tweet about Leeds events, interesting articles, books, feminism and my favourite places to go for a drink and some cake, because basically I think they are the most important things.

Week 51: Dan

Hi, my name is Dan and I live & work in Leeds. I am originally from Bradford and after spending some time down south I moved back to the motherland around 3 years ago.

I currently live in Kirkstall just down the road from the Abbey and I work at a wonderful city centre bar named Friends of Ham. I love Leeds for all it's hidden little gems but (although I have seen a vast improvement in the city over the last year or so) I think that it still needs a lot of work. Thankfully there are a lot of good people doing a lot of good things so I think the future is looking pretty good!

Over the course of the week I hope to spend a little bit of time with these people to see what we can expect for 2013!

Week 50: Georgiana

I am a nerd by day working with business and systems but a crafty Christmas nut by night. Addicted to mulled wine, spreadsheets and being merry. I was born in Brighton many years ago but I've now been living the dream in Leeds for over 10 years! I live in Morley in South Leeds now but have graces Hyde Park, Headingley and Burley in the past. I helped to start the Leeds City Centre Women's Institute over 3 years ago, @bunsroseswi and started @yarnia_leeds a year ago teaching knitting for free at @DockStMarket.

Week 49: Woody

Hi, my name is Woody, I'm 27, Aquarius and I have deep blue eyes. Two of them.

You'll be impressed to know I have a job but let's not talk about that right now, hopefully we can enjoy a romantic meal and a bottle of wine before we 'get down to business' ;) LOL!!

I've been told I'm a good listener and if you take the time to get to know me you'll discover I'm above average when it comes to conversation and have a GOSH, LOLOL!!

I like movies and enjoy regular trips to the pictures. Sometimes I like to buy popcorn but not always. I prefer salted but if you wanted to join me on the back row I'd be happy to butter your kernels.

I like to think of myself as adventurous as I once got lost in Debenhams but found an exit without any help from the staff.

I listen to all genres of music. Even Gangsta Rap, because I'm pretty fly for a white guy. ROFL!!

It's always been my dream to go to Wrestlemania ever since I was a little boy. But now that I'm a big boy I'm looking for the perfect partner to capture the Tag Team championships... of... love.

This isn't a dating website, is it? ROLF HARRIS!!