‘Empathy that lasts a lifetime’: charity bridges gap between Bradford schools

Pupils from Hill Top Church of England and Horton Grange primary schools taking part in an event day at Bradford City Hall organised by The Linking Network. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

On a bright wintry morning, Bradford’s majestic 19th-century city hall is alive with children’s laughter, chatter and songs. Sixty girls and boys are playing games and dancing in the banqueting suite, they’re making art in the civic reception room and amid the grandeur of the council chamber, where key decisions about the future of their city are made, they are sharing their hopes and dreams.

“I want to be a doctor,” says one pupil from the tiered benches where the city’s councillors sit. “I want to be a doctor and a teacher,” says another. “I want to be a pilot and a neurosurgeon,” says a third. The children are also asked about their hopes for Bradford. “That we have our own snow leopard,” was one rather magnificent recent response.