Blend of youth and experience to aid bid to be City of Culture
A MIX of youth and cultural experience coupled with local knowledge are the hallmarks of new recruits to the team overseeing Bradford’s bid to be UK City of Culture for 2025, according to organisers.
Si Cunningham, Hunnan Haider, Jack Lynch, May McQuade and Pakeezah Zahoor have been signed up to the team, and have experience from several of the district’s cultural organisations including Mind The Gap, Bradford Literature Festival and The Brick Box.
Each will work with communities to engage with people about Bradford 2025’ s ambitions and plans. They will be listening to ideas to understand what activities will bring people together in for the 2025 bid for the UK City of Culture, which will be delivered to Government next year. The title has previously been held by Hull in 2017.
Bradford 2025’ s bid director, Richard Shaw, said: “I’m absolutely confident that we have in this team some of the next generation of cultural leaders of this district.
“And for the youngest city in Europe, it’s absolutely right that the future of the bid should be in the hands of these exceptionally talented young people – individually they each bring unique qualities to the bid, collectively they’re a winning team.”
Twenty- nine per cent of Bradford’s population is under 20 and nearly a quarter are under 16.
Ms McQuade, 30, of Mind The Gap, and Ms Zahoor, 29, formerly of Bradford Literature Festival, will work together as programme
and community across Bradford.
Mr Cunningham, 33, the bid’s communications and bid development manager, has worked as a journalist for national titles and has served as the chairman of Bradford Civic Society since 2017.
Research intern Mr Haider, 28, joins the team full- time with support from the University of Bradford.
Mr Lynch, 27, takes on the role of marketing and campaign coordinator.
co- ordinators