Leeds Ghana Union Independence cultural day

Evaluation Report for Leeds Philosophical and Literacy Society (LPLS) funding on behalf of the Leeds Ghana Union dated 16/03/2024.

1. Description of activity

The Leeds Ghana Union received an amount of £250 from the LPLS Funding for the purpose of supporting the Leeds Ghana Union Independence cultural Day at the Holbeck Working Men Club on the 16/03/2023 in Leeds showcasing Ghanaian culture. The donation has been used to organise the event. The leadership of the Leeds Ghana Union including the following members: Nafisah Nkansah- the chairperson, Dr Nana Osei – Secretary to the Union; Dickson Acheampong – Financial Treasurer; Mr Andy- Youth Organiser, Prince Tando and Agyei Boateng as organisers. The leadership organised the cultural independence day at the Holbeck Working Men Club from 5:30pm to 10:30pm. The event was attended by over 100 individuals.

The majority of the participants are from the black and ethnic minority background. The majority were from Ghana and the rest were from the other African countries with British citizenship. The activities covered during the day include the following:

• Africa music listening and dancing
• Brassband music from the Leeds Supreme Brassband – A group of youth playing various brass instruments with Ghanaian cultural songs.
• A cultural dance from young girls with Ghanaian heritage.
• Display of artefacts and cultural items from Ghana showcasing the Ghanaian culture to the citizenry.
In addition, the event was supported by East Leeds Project- Moon Palace. This additional event was outside the venue to educate all the people about Art and Science. This is an artwork and mobile observatory by Heather Peak and Ivan Morison.

2. Any changes to your original plan

There were no changes to the original plan proposed for this project. The amount has been used for the same purpose. The group has got bigger and therefore the impact will increase among the group and therefore the benefit will be larger than originally expected. The Event date changed from the 09/06/2024 to 16/03/2024 due to availability of the venue to host the occasion.
3. The project success
The project has been a success for the group as the number of people participating in the project has gone up over 120 participated whilst pervious events was attended by only 50 individuals. Social cohesion and community integration was achieved as there were different groups or ethics group which attended the event. The Ghanaian culture was on display during the day and the youth learnt a lot event including traditional food on display.
We carried out a survey at the end of the project, so that we could measure how people felt about the cultural day and the feedback were that they have learnt a lot during the evening including music and dancing as well as the cultural display for the day.

4. How did people benefit from your work

In our application we said we had the below aims for the organisation:

• Reduce isolation by giving people an opportunity to spend time with one another through cultural activities. This was done through music and brassband songs, cultural dressing using kente clothing and artefact display on the day.
• Increase people’s participation in physical exercise through dancing
• Social cohesion: the different cultures will learn from each other and therefore promote community cohesion around the Holbeck and Beeston areas thereby promoting peace in the area.
• Improving peace and integration: This prevents people from becoming sick as the exercise promote heart activeness and prevent blood pressure. There is also health inequality in this area compared with other places in Leeds and hence engaging in these social activities will promote health in the area.
• These activities were free and open to any person who will like to take part as a result of the support that your funds provided to promote this to the community.

Here is some evidence that shows how we achieved these aims:
• This shows we successfully reduced isolation and provided an opportunity for people to spend time with one another dancing and learning African culture at Holbeck Working Men Club.
• This shows we successfully increased people’s participation in cultural literacy and we intend to go back to next year time to see if the participation would go up again.

5. Budget spend breakdown

Description Quantity Amount including Vat
Venue hire – Holbeck Working Men Club 1 £300 ( The funding went towards the cost of the venue.
Soft Drinks provided by the venue 4 X 24 £100
Decoration 1 £20
Traditional dancers 1 £100
DJ 1 £100
Balloons 1 £10
Total amount of cost £630

6. Photos and other evidence

“Nafisah Nkansah – Chairperson of the Leeds Ghana Union.

“ The best thing about showing Ghana culture allows us to spend time with people from the community, and giving chance to learn about cultural heritage and community integration. We thank the Leeds Philosophical and Literacy Society for the funding”

I have attached various pictures and videos of the event to this report.
7. Conclusion

As you can see, the funding you have provided has been very important for our group. We have run a successful project and this has really improved things for a lot of people in our community, especially the Holbeck and Beeston area. Please feel free to get in touch if you would like any more information.

The funding you have provided over the past year has allowed us to build up our organisation and get more people involved in the Community cultural activities. We have also gained valuable experience which will help us run new activities in the coming year. Our plan is to increase the number of cultural activities we support to make sure that cultural awareness is created and we all live together as one people and also attract a wider range of people, and to focus especially on activities that are accessible for people with disabilities and other users.

It is our hope that the Leeds Ghana Union would work with you again in the future and thank you very much for your kind support.