Origins of unity day

Origins

Hyde Park Unity Day is a day of celebration for the local community to show the best of whom we are. The community had lost a local Pub, the 'Newlands' through riots in 1995, which attracted intense national media coverage and this led to a negative portrayal of the area which we as a community had to come to terms with ourselves.

Hyde Park Unity Day is an 11 hour day, celebrating the people, culture and community of LS6. Since 1996 we have benefited from the enthusiasm of close to a thousand team members, (not forgetting the hundreds of bands, performers and artists of whom all play for free and the unsung heroes who just turn up on the park and volunteer to help).

Each year a new team evolves through social contacts as well as Public meetings where any and all are welcome to join in and make a positive contribution of ideas and energy. There are no paid members of this team, so the professional manner in which Hyde Park Unity Day is organised is all the more impressive as it is done for fun! Its not just a question of taking people as you find them but where, how or what you leave them with.

Hyde Park Unity Day is an association of individuals who give their time and talents freely to create a day celebrating our area and our diversity. We have a Management Committee to help us stay on course with budgeting and planning and Area Co-ordinators who organise the various tasks that have to be done to ensure a day everyone can enjoy. Every year there is a core of people that have been involved in previous years, but we are always on the look out for new talent. The event is paid for through grants and team fundraising, which this year have included car boots sales, gypsy and folk music nights, jumble sales (jumble is massive!) dub sound clashes, sponsored leg waxing and various band nights. We have a rule that all bands playing on the day must have played a fundraiser, this helps the team who pick the bands for the day check out the local talent as well as helping us raise funds.

Hyde Park Unity Day is a diverse collection of people who have come together to do something free for their community and with this magical things have happened.

Hyde Park Unity Day is a ‘not for profit’ voluntary association.