Meet the team: Bradford 2025’s Community Connectors
We’re supporting culture in the community thanks to our teams of Community Connectors and Creative Practitioners.
Bradford 2025’s Community Connectors are working with community centres and organisations to bring people together, helping even more local events and activities become bigger and brighter in 2025.
We know that there’s creativity and joy across the whole of Bradford District – in every postcode and every ward. It’s why Bradford was awarded UK City of Culture 2025. Our Community Connectors are now supporting communities across the district to let this creativity shine, collaborating with artists and creatives to learn new skills and enrich their neighbourhoods.
Read on to meet our Community Connectors.
Bradford East
Samina Ali – Community Connector
Sam is part of Bradford Council’s Neighbourhood team as a Ward Officer in Bradford East. She’s also worked at Bradford College as a tutor for adult learning. Sam lives in BD18 (Shipley).
Kauser Mukhtar – Creative Practitioner
Kauser has worked with many different communities in her creative career as a poet, lyricist, songwriter, composer and theatre maker who writes in English, Punjabi, Pahari and Urdu. She’s lived and worked in Bradford for many years as a teacher and in community development, and currently lives in BD2 (Bradford East).
Bradford South
Ritesh Biswas – Community Connector
Ritesh has been working for Just IT, supporting young people into careers in IT through apprenticeships and training. He was previously Head of Student Recruitment at Corndel College London and has also worked in recruitment for the Leeds & York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Ritesh lives in BD3 (Bradford East).
Natasha Joseph – Creative Practitioner
Natasha is a multimedia artist and curator who was born and brought up in Bangalore, India. She is the director of We Belong Here, an organisation that develops cross-arts engagement within the creative communities in the North of England while also making art expression more accessible to the public. Natasha currently lives in Armley, Leeds.
Bradford West
Shazia Bibi – Community Connector
Shazia is a freelance producer and project manager working in the arts sector. She has delivered projects for East Street Arts in Leeds and with Bradford Producing Hub, and has collaborated with visual artists, dancers and theatre companies. Shazia lives in BD3 (Bradford East).
Lorrett McIntosh and Rozina Tariq – Creative Practitioners
Lorrett and Rozina set up Creative Flare, a CIC delivering community-focused creative activity, mostly in Allerton and Lower Grange. They are both trained teachers specialising in art, art therapy and beauty therapy who have spent years cultivating creative talent in local communities. Lorrett is of Black African Caribbean heritage and Rozina is of Pakistani heritage. As JU:MP coordinators, they have encouraged their local communities to access green spaces through playful, creative activities and events, notably at Pitty Beck. Both Lorrett and Rosina live in BD15 (Bradford West).
Keighley & Ilkley
Gemma Hobbs – Community Connector
Gemma founded Keighley Creative, a thriving arts centre with artists’ studios, a cinema and a gallery, and was its Creative Director for the past six years. She has a strong background in arts education, community development and creative place-making. Gemma lives in BD16 (Bingley).
Hannah Butterfield – Creative Practitioner
Hannah is a performer and arts facilitator based in West Yorkshire. She is director of Harmony Choir in Leeds and an Associate Director with Stand and Be Counted Theatre. Hannah currently lives in Leeds.
Shipley
Maddy Allen – Community Connector
Maddy leads the fundraising for Choose Love, a charity helping grassroots organisations to support displaced people. She first worked for Choose Love in Calais, enabling humanitarian aid and services to reach those in need on a key migration route. Maddy also has experience in youth work from roles in Bradford, Edinburgh and at a residential children’s home in South London. Maddy lives in BD9 (Bradford West).
Dan Mallaghan – Creative Practitioner
Dan is a theatre-based artist with 20 years’ experience who has had the privilege of working alongside and learning from other artists from a wide variety of artforms. Throughout his career, he has always created work alongside and with a variety of different communities and people with lived experiences. Dan lives in BD18 (Shipley).
