‘Youth is at the heart of Bradford City of Culture’

Bradford is one of the UK’s youngest cities – and the vibrance of youth will be key to its City of Culture year, according to organisers.

Under-25s make up 34% of Bradford’s population and the “youthful demography” will be harnessed to make best use of young people’s talents, they said.

Noor Jahangir, 19, was part of the Bradford 2025 youth panel and has since been given a full-time position working with the City of Culture delivery team.

She said the events were about giving creative opportunities to young people in the city that were not previously available.

“When I was younger I knew that people had negative stereotypes of Bradford,” Miss Jahangir, a keen open mic poet, said.

“It seemed like people in Bradford didn’t do that type of thing.

“And the people who did tended to leave Bradford and never come back.”

She added: “I have friends who are outside Bradford who believe these stereotypes, despite never having been to Bradford, about there not being opportunities here.

“They even make jokes about how now Bradford is getting opportunities, it’s because they’re giving them to the most disadvantaged.

“That’s not true.”

Miss Jahangir added: “I feel like the creative sector is a middle-class, white kind of thing and you don’t often see much diversity in that.”

John McMahon, head of engagement, skills and volunteering at Bradford 2025, said the city’s youth brought advantages that could be harnessed for cultural showpiece events.

“It brings a vibrancy, energy and an additional drive for the city to seize the moment that 2025 offers,” he said.

The Office for National Statistics determines “young” cities by either median age – which is shaped by factors such as high fertility, low mortality and inward migration – or the proportion of residents who are under the age of 16.

Mr McMahon added: “We know that Bradford is similar to many other northern and Midlands cities where youth unemployment is a bit higher than the national average and there can be barriers to opportunity.”

He added that despite “a passion for Bradford” and “a hunger for opportunities”, sometimes the chance to better themselves was just not available.

Mr McMahon added: “For many young people, particularly those growing up in those towns and cities that may have lost their traditional industries, they sometimes struggle to find the right opportunity and there is that pressure to move away.”

Alina Khan, vice principal of Bradford College, is familiar with the experiences of young people in the city.

“We know that Bradford is extremely diverse and historically has had a very transient community,” she said.

“For a young person living in Bradford, being around different cultures, people from different socio-economic backgrounds that have got different ways of living is just quite normal.

“I suppose that’s what makes Bradford so special.”

But she added that there were challenges that her students faced.

“We have around 12,000 students at the college and around 90% of them are from a 3-4km radius of the central campus,” she said.

“We have large levels of deprivation in the city. We know health outcomes increase the further out of Bradford you go”.

But Ms Khan said many of her students feel a sense of pride about their home city and want to stay.

“There’s something quite special and magnetic that keeps people in Bradford but there’s also a sense of responsibility and duty to making Bradford the best that it can be,” she said.

“And I think that’s felt throughout the city really.”

City of Culture aims to attract long-term investment into the winning city.

A full list of events can be found on the Bradford City of Culture website.

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