A video of a man collecting discarded tents for the homeless during the aftermath of Leeds festival has been shared widely online following the end of the Bank holiday weekend knees-up.
Carl Simpson, the founder of Hull homeless charity Raise the Roof, videoed himself collecting hundreds of sleeping bags and tents that had been left behind by revellers at campsites around Bramhall Park - sharing images of the destruction first hand via Facebook live.
“Just thousands, after thousands, after thousands, of just discarded tents, sleeping bags, we’re trying to get what we can but as you can see it just goes on and on," you can hear Carl saying into the camera as he pans across a huge expanse of fields littered with debris and discarded camping equipment.
"And this is only a little part of it. Unreal."
A still from the video shows litter all over the floor and discarded but perfectly useable blow-up beds and tents just left by festival-goers / Image: Raise The Roof Hull Homeless Project
The footage is sure to shock some, although it is a typical reality of many festival campsites at the end of a long weekend of partying. Sadly, it isn't unusual for people to buy a cheap tent and then simply leave it behind when it comes time to pack up and go home.
The floor is shown to be covered in litter, there are partly-destroyed tents simply abandoned alongside others that are perfectly fine to be used again - and the mess stretches out for miles.
Where some might see something to complain about, though, Mr. Simpson saw an opportunity to help - traveling down to Leeds with a team to collect the discarded items, which would have otherwise ended up in the bin.
Instead, he will now repurpose them for vulnerable service users of his Hull homeless charity before sharing the rest with other similar projects that work with vulnerable people.
These will then be distributed to various outreach projects and charities across Yorkshire.
Carl Simpson, who runs the Raise The Roof Homelessness Project, turns the camera on himself to speak to his page's followers / Image: Raise The Roof Hull Homeless Project
"Just remember any homeless organisations next year when this is on," continues Carl as he speaks into the camera.
"Get yourselves down here because this lot can save many lives during the winter."
Amongst their haul of sleeping bags and tents, the team also collected a pop-up gazebo, which they say will come in handy for their on-street outreach, as well as a number of blow-up beds and chairs.
The recovered items from the festival will now be used to help both refugees and homeless people across Yorkshire and the rest of the UK.
She's big, she's green and she's ready to ruin your figure.
A lot of you will have seen the viral ‘Bertha’ cake by Leeds born beloved sweet treat specialists Get Baked.
They recently opened another site in Manchester's Northern Quarter, where queues literally formed round the block of hungry punters wanting to get their hands on the infamous sugary treats.
And now it's going to happen all over again, as they've recently unveiled their newest flavour which is sure to go down a storm.
We’ll give you a hint: it’s a current food and drink trend that’s about as big as Bertha herself – it’s not matcha, it’s not hot honey (duh), and it’s not Guinness…
Images: Get Baked
Yes—scratch that; HELL YES!Get Baked is set to welcome Bertha’s equally beautiful twin sister, and she’s officially a pistachio girlie.
Having started out life simply as ‘Bruce’, after taking inspiration from the iconic scene from Matilda, this thing has become a phenomenon in its own right, and who doesn’t like more flavours of a good thing?
Probably one of the biggest foodie crazes going at the minute, thanks to the popularity of pistachio cream, cookies, lattes and the similar social media sensation that is the ‘Dubai Pistachio Bar' people are rather fittingly going nuts for this particular flavour of almost absolutely anything.
With that in mind, the Leeds-born bakery and dessert shop – founded by Rich Myers over in Headingley back in 2011 – have shown no hesitation in hopping on the bandwagon and creating a new twist on their own viral menu item.
Teasing the full details in a post on their Instagram this week, they wrote: “What’s big, green, and is going to destroy your life in a couple of weeks’ time? Pistachio Bertha. Strictly limited to 5,000 slices. Coming oh so soon. GB.”
In case you were wondering just how mad those with a sweet tooth could possibly go for a slice of cake, just look at the recent queues when they finally launched in Manchester city centre:
Speaking on the grand opening here on our turf and his partner Amy’s hometown, Myers said simply: “Manchester, what a launch. Thanks for much for the warm welcome. Stay baked.”
Leeds Tattoo Expo to return to the First Direct Arena for 10th anniversary
Clementine Hall
The tenth annual Leeds Tattoo Expo will showcase some of the best in tattooing both local and internationally.
If you fancy getting yourself a fancy new bit of ink, then look no further than the iconic Leeds Tattoo Expo that will be returning to the First Direct Arena this June.
Taking place on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 June 2025, over 200 tattooists and 70 traders will be flocking to the city to show off their skills.
And not only that, but there’ll also be a whole host of market traders for you to browse as well as live music to have a boogie to.
The artists will be tattooing with options for both pre-booked appointments and walk ups available throughout the weekend.
Image: Leeds Tattoo Expo
There will also be a piercer, tooth gems and a henna artist ready to adorn your body.
Alongside getting tattooed, there’s plenty to do and to see over the whole weekend; there'll be an alternative drawing class, an illustrators market with kids’ workshops provided by Art Gecko, an art fusion event on the main stage, burlesque performances and competitions, a small vintage clothing pop-up, fire breathing and break dancing demonstrations in the square outside the arena.
The annual tattoo competitions will also be taking place each evening, where tattooists showcase their work to a panel of judges, sponsored by Killer Ink!
To celebrate Leeds Tattoo Expo's tenth anniversary, they'll be hosting a Pre-Party at Belgrave Music Hall on Thursday 5 June which is a completely free entry event complete with live music and free pizza.
You can find out more about the event and book your tickets here via the First Direct Arena's website.
Georgina Pellant -
31st August 2021 
