Keighley Salvation Army bangs drum for City of Culture
published on 25 Mar 2025
The Salvation Army in Keighley is marching to its own beat after hosting a Samba Drumming session as part of Bradford’s City of Culture year.
It was held as part of a City of Culture programme initiative called ‘Our Patch’ which promotes community arts across the Bradford area.
The Samba Drumming session formed part of drop-in aimed at supporting asylum seekers and refugees, which is held at Keighley Salvation Army in High Street each week.
The church and charity will be taking part in a number of community projects this year as part of Bradford’s City of Culture 2025.
Major Imogen Stewart, who leads Keighley Salvation Army, said: “Keighley has a small team of people promoting City of Culture activities, especially within the area of community arts, like singing, music, art, theatre and poetry.
“This Samba Drumming event enabled us to embrace Bradford 'City of Culture' at our asylum seekers drop-in. It went down really well, there was a great turn out and it was something different for people to try. What a grand, fun day we had with all our folk.
“Bradford City of Culture is about telling your story and the story of your life in Bradford, it’s about your background, your culture, and saying ‘I live in Bradford and I’m proud of it’.
“We’re embracing this idea at Keighley working with Churches Together to tell our Christian story and the story of Keighley Salvation Army as a place of sanctuary for folk.
"We’re also starting a poster project which tells the stories of the people who volunteer and come to our community centre.
“We are excited to be part of the City of Culture activities and will be hosting more community sessions later in the year including a cultural cooking afternoon celebrating different foods and cultures as part of our Victory Programme, which teaches people how to cook on a budget.”
Keighley Salvation Army will also be hosting a number of events over the Easter weekend. To find out more about this and what their weekly programme offers visit their Facebook page or website here
