Over the last 10 years in Leeds, we’ve supported over 14,000 young people in partnership with the University of Leeds. What are our Centre Leaders, who work in our communities in Leeds everyday, reflections on 10 years of work in the city?
Nazgol Nadali, Centre Leader at IntoUniversity Leeds East
“I joined IntoUniversity Leeds East in 2022, 8 years after its opening in October 2014. Upon joining, it became immediately apparent to me that it was an incredibly special place. It was clear that the centre was well established and integrated in the community, with immense amounts of support from local families who had years of fond memories with IntoUniversity. Now, having worked here for 2 and a half years, I feel extremely lucky to have become part of the lives of all of the amazing families that we support, and to have had so many opportunities to form more memories with them. Families proudly tell us about their older children who had previously been IntoUniversity students, who are now in university. Even though these older students worked with a completely different team of staff all those years ago, they still come into the centre to say hi, to tell us how much their younger siblings are now enjoying coming to IntoUniversity, and to tell us the role that IntoUniversity played in helping them to achieve their desired outcomes after school. We thoroughly enjoy working with all of our families, from those whose children have been coming to us for a decade, to new families whom we now have the pleasure of supporting as well.
From being one centre 10 years ago, to now being 3 centres across Leeds, all centres have been able to evidence the value of long-term community work and being with young people throughout their educational journey by providing the high-quality pastoral care that is at the heart of IntoUniversity’s ethos.
As well as providing us with the essential funding that makes our centres possible, the University of Leeds also plays an integral role in the day-to-day running of the centres. We often visit the University of Leeds and watch amazement spread across our students’ faces as they walk around, with students as young as 7 years old exclaiming “I’m definitely going to come here when I’m older!” The university also provides us with fantastic workshops in our centre, enriching our programmes and the learning of our students by supporting them to learn in an engaging way. We couldn’t be more grateful to have such a fantastic university partner to provide all of our programmes alongside.”
Arienne Panayi, Centre Leader at IntoUniversity Leeds Extension
“Being part of an organisation that’s so integrated within the local community feels very special for so many reasons, but what stands out the most is being able to grow and learn alongside the wonderful young people we work with. Within Leeds, it’s positive to see the engagement in which the young people have with our programmes and particularly superb to see that beyond school term time, families and young people are eager to attend sessions, educational visits to the University of Leeds and take part in other opportunities, because they feel inspired and ready to learn. A particular highlight has been working with families who began engagement with IntoUniversity, when their young people were in Primary school, at the start of the Leeds East, South and Extension launch. It feels like an honour to be a part of each young person’s journey into secondary school and beyond, whilst they become young aspiring adults, achieving their future aspirations.”
Donny Kirkwood, Centre Leader at IntoUniversity Leeds South
“Having started in the Leeds South Centre last year, it has been so heartwarming to see and feel how much IntoUniversity means to the young people, their families and the local community. Moments every day from schools or community groups sharing how much a young person has developed since attending, to speaking to those that started in Year 4 as they attend a Year 9 programme are exactly why the work of IntoUniversity and University of Leeds means so much to those involved. Playing a part in the support of such wonderful young people, families and communities continues to motivate our team each day. We are all looking forward to seeing where the young people and partnership with the University of Leeds can go in the future too!”
Find out more about our partnership with the University of Leeds
