Hello, Heroes: Julie
Meet the community superstars who help make Bradford a better place.
Published: November 13, 2024
Author: George Lennon
Introducing Julie, a psychotherapist, climate activist and local hero.
Bradford 2025 and Impressions Gallery have 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 Sep and Oct 2024. The portraits will also feature in Aïda’s companion exhibition Nationhood: Memory and Hope, which opens at Bradford’s Impressions Gallery (10 Jan – 26 Apr 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.
Read on the meet Julie, a psychotherapist and climate activist.
Meet Julie
I’m very happy to say I’m a psychotherapist working for The Cellar Trust as a talking therapies counsellor, working with people from all walks of life . I love helping people shed issues, heal and look forwards in their lives, it’s life affirming.
Amazing Morsbags
It felt pretty amazing to be chosen as an unsung hero – such a surprise to be nominated – and to be chosen out of all the nominations too. I usually operate behind the scenes, so to stand up and be visible was new for me.
A local shop called Hedgehog Organics, selling great organic products, nominated me. They have given away many hundreds of our Morsbags*, they have helped fund our operation by buying us thousands of bag labels and they also operate as a local drop off point for fabric.
*A Morsbag is a strong, reusable, recycled, unique bag made from textiles otherwise destined for landfill and given away for free to replace plastic bags.
At ease
After the initial apprehension, Aida really put me at my ease, I relaxed and was surprised to find I was enjoying myself.
The team were really professional, worked together well and nothing was too much trouble. It was rather surreal to have passers by watch and wonder who we were!
In 2025, I’m looking forward to Bradford being the centre of things, a destination for so many people to come and enjoy the year of culture and on our doorstep. I’m very much looking forward to the Turner prize at Cartwright Hall and lots of the music events.
I’d really like to see visitors fall in love with Bradford, it’s diverse and friendly people, beautiful parks and magnificent buildings. To relocate here, invest here and be involved in Bradford’s continued regeneration.
Learn how to make your very own Morsbag via the Make A Morsbag website. Aïda Muluneh’s exhibition Nationhood: Memory and Hope opens in January 2025 at Impressions Gallery, Bradford.
A Bradford 2025 and Impressions Gallery commission in partnership with Belfast Exposed, Ffotogallery, Cardiff and Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow.