Our Stories:
Meet Jez

“I started coming to The Old Fire Station 4 years ago. I came for my mental health through the doctors. I suffered from mental health problems for a long time. I’ve got three forms of arthritis as well, rheumatoid, osteo and gout! 

Recently I found out the previous caretaker was leaving. Fran came to me and asked me if I wanted a job. Opening up and checking the toilets and stuff like that. Nowt heavy, nowt strenuous. Well, it gets you out of the house, doesn’t it? You’re not sat there looking at 4 walls. That’s all I did before I came here. 

I have a friend that comes here now. I saw him coming out of the cooking school here. He said his doctor had said he’d got to do some cooking to get him out of the house. Then I grabbed him and took him to the gardening group and he’s come back. He said that if he hadn’t been doing this he was thinking of killing himself. Well, he’s got a purpose in life now. 

The best bit of being here is the people. No matter where you go in this building, everyone’s happy, everybody’s smiling. You come in and everybody says ‘morning’ and there’s never a member of staff with a sad face. I’d say coming in here saves a lot of lives. And I’ll be honest, if I didn’t come here, I don’t know what I’d have been doing.” 

The Old Fire Station is a multipurpose community hub, providing a base for six local charities, along with rooms available to hire, a cookery school and a café for all of the community to enjoy. They’ve received a range of funding from Leeds Community Foundation, including grants for children’s holiday activities and the organisation’s strategic development.   

If you want to play your part in supporting brilliant local Community Organisations like The Old Fire Station, learn how you can support us, or reach out at info@leedscf.org.uk.