Leeds residents have opened up about life in the city’s ‘poorest area’ where children walk around in “ripped clothes” and the streets are “dirty”.
Harehills locals have said these problems are present since it’s home to a diverse community, full of unrepresented minorities. Harehills and Gipton has a majority 38.2 per cent Asian population, with 34.5 per cent White and 17.4 per cent Black.
They’ve also spoken of how so many struggling families are either on benefits or both parents work and are living in back-to-back houses, so kids as young as four are roaming the streets or large groups are playing football in the road.
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The suburb has an average income of £18,300, according to the Office for National Statistics, in Harehills North in 2020 and covers the financial year ending 2018. Kasif Kahn, whose father owns Supreme Green Grocers in Harehills Lane, and student Siraj Mudjahed, who works at Human Relief Mission, spoke about the issues in the area.
Kasif, a father of two, said: “The poverty level in this area is getting worse. There’s a youth club centre and kids are coming in with ripped clothes and trainers, it’s just sad. When I see a kid like that, I tell them ‘Be strong, study hard and achieve your goals in life’.
“There are some areas that are a bit rough where you’ve got to be careful with your hands in your pockets as someone might come and tell you to ‘empty your pockets’.
“It’s a decent nice community. It’s not as bad as people make out. People are struggling like everywhere. Plus there’s big families in small houses, they’re all back-to-backs.
Siraj said: “Don’t give in to the stereotype, the streets might be dirty, we might have a couple of kids wearing ripped clothes but that’s because they come from underrepresented families. Most of their parents take benefits or both parents work. That’s the most they can do.
“If you see kids on the street playing football being a headache for drivers, that’s not because they like being a pain in backside for members of the community. That’s because they don’t have a back garden for them to play football in.
“I’ve seen four-year-old kids just bopping around the streets without any parents. It makes me feel a bit shocked and annoyed at the parents – but can you blame a parent who’s been at work all day? They live in back-to-backs with no allotments or gardens to play in.”
A Harehills shopkeeper Shahid Gohar has recently spoken about the abysmal level of poverty in the area, saying he gives food to ‘struggling’ customers who can’t even afford bread or milk.
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