Hello, Heroes: Alyshea
Meet the community superstars who help make Bradford a better place.
Published: December 28, 2024
Author: Will Fulford-Jones
Introducing Alyshea, a mental health doctor and local hero.
Bradford 2025 and Impressions Gallery invited photographer Aïda Muluneh to create a major new project ahead of our year as UK City of Culture, celebrating the unsung local heroes who make our world a better place. The result was A Portrait of Us, images of 15 community superstars from Bradford, Belfast, Cardiff and Glasgow photographed during summer 2024.
A Portrait of Us was exhibited on billboards around Bradford District during September and October 2024. The portraits will also feature in Aïda’s companion exhibition Nationhood: Memory and Hope, which opens at Bradford’s Impressions Gallery (10 January – 26 April 2025) before travelling to Street Level Photoworks in Glasgow, Ffotogallery in Cardiff and Belfast Exposed later in the year.
But who are these unsung heroes? We caught up with three brilliant Bradfordians to find out who they are, what they do – and what they’re excited about seeing at Bradford 2025.
We finish our series with Alyshea, a mental health doctor.
Meet Alyshea
I’m a resident doctor specialising in mental health, I work for Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust – and I absolutely love my job. Mental health is such a fascinating aspect of human life, and I love being part of a patient’s journey to recovery.
I have multiple disabilities due to long-term health conditions, so I use a wheelchair at work and walk with crutches. Being a doctor with disabilities is really interesting, and I do feel my health problems help me to empathise more with patients.
I’m an adopted Northerner. I grew up in London, but when I met my husband – a proud Yorkshireman! – I fell in love with Bradford just as I fell in love with him. I live near Keighley now, and I love the beautiful scenery, the work-life balance and the warmth of the people.
Pursue your dreams
Being part of this project has been such a surreal experience! I was a little in awe of Aïda, but she was incredibly warm and patient. Shout-out, too, to Kinga Dwornik, who did a fantastic job as my make-up artist.
Seeing your face on bus stops is such a strange thing. I’d like to salute the people of Bradford for not drawing a comical moustache on my pictures – I would have been incredibly tempted to do in my wild(-ish) younger days…
Let's light up Bradford
Bradford 2025 is going to be amazing! I’m looking forward to seeing Nationhood: Memory and Hope, Aïda’s photography exhibition, and The Railway Children. We can see the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway from our house – sometimes I’m late for work because the steam engine is going over the level crossing.
But the real highlight for me will be just seeing the city bursting with art, energy and enthusiasm. Bradford is possibly the most underrated city in the UK, and it deserves its opportunity to shine.
I encourage everyone to not only go and enjoy the year, but to take what inspires you and bring it into your own life. The world can be a gloomy place, so let’s light up Bradford in a burst of culture and joy – and then carry that joy and energy for years, decades and generations to come!
Learn more about Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust at the trust’s website. Aïda Muluneh’s exhibition Nationhood: Memory and Hope opens on 10 January 2025 at Impressions Gallery in Bradford.
A Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and Impressions Gallery commission in partnership with Belfast Exposed, Ffotogallery, Cardiff and Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow.