When Suduba Akbari, a former member of the junior Afghan women’s football team, boarded a flight in July 2021 to escape the Taliban, she probably could not imagine that 18 months later she would be spending an evening as a VIP guest at Leeds Civic Hall. Next month, however, in the same building where the Queen’s death and King’s proclamation were formally announced, Akbari and 29 other unaccompanied minor asylum seekers, along with social workers, carers and city officials, will gather to celebrate the completion of a year-long cookery book project called Cooked with Love.
Originally conceived by social worker and Leeds city’s lead for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, Louise Sidibe, Cooked with Love involves groups of young refugees from Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Chad. Without exception, every one of the people involved has endured unimaginable hardship and loss.
