The Reginald Centre in Chapeltown, Leeds, now boasts a vibrant celebration of community pride and Paralympic excellence thanks to Community Health Partnerships (CHP) and our LIFTCo partner Community Ventures Leeds, who worked with the Library and the Museum and Galleries teams from Leeds City Council (LCC) to add a new mural to the busy neighbourhood Centre. A stunning mural of Kadeena Cox—Paralympian in sprinting and cycling, a world champion, who grew up in Chapeltown in Leeds – was completed in just two weeks on site, with everyone working as a team to honour the local hero. This mural is one of five murals around Leeds, part of the ‘On the Pitch, Off the Pitch’ project, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, which delved into the museum collections to discover links to local sporting stories.
Partnership in Practice: From Concept to Canvas
Earlier in 2025, Nicole Hardaker, Customer Service Team Leader at The Reginald Centre, approached CHP’s Operations and Relationship Manager, Jennie Hennelly, with the exciting proposal. The team wanted to use the side of The Reginald Centre for a mural honouring Kadeena’s achievements.
Jennie quickly mobilised support, collaborating with Stuart Verry from Community Ventures Leeds, our LIFTCo partner, to coordinate meetings, ensure compliance, and meet critical deadlines. CHP and Leeds City Council are joint head tenants at The Reginald Centre.
After a competitive selection process, artist Marcus ‘Hyro’ Browne was chosen from five candidates. His design, which captures Kadeena’s spirit and accomplishments, was approved by Kadeena and her family. Despite challenges—including weather delays —Hyro completed the mural in just two weeks.
The result is a powerful and inspiring piece of public art that now stands as a beacon of community pride and resilience at the heart of her local neighbourhood.
About the mural:
Beginning competitive sprinting aged 15, the runner silhouette reflects Kadeena’s early sporting career. Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 2014, the orange colours in the mural reference the orange ribbon, a symbol for MS awareness. The hummingbird and green background connect to her Jamaican heritage and the yellow hair and face represent a phoenix rising through adversity. Bringing the artwork to the present day, the bike in green reflects Kadeena’s journey and the Kadeena Cox academy, established in 2021.
Read:
Hyro Studio – mural artist based in Leeds
Mural tributes are a sporting chance to honour city’s stars Leeds City Council news
This project was a fantastic example of what we can achieve when CHP, LIFTCo, and the city council work in partnership. We were delighted to help mobilise the effort quickly and ensure the process ran smoothly to meet the deadlines for this incredible artwork. Seeing the joy and pride at the unveiling made all the logistical work worthwhile. It shows the power of true community partnership when we come together to honour a local hero like Kadeena.
When approached by Leeds Museums and Galleries, our first thought as a management team was what this would mean to the community to showcase a member of the local community and their achievements and how we could make this happen. Working with Jennie, Stuart and Catherine to bring the project to life, through the selection of the artist, the placement and colour palette we wanted to ensure the mural represented Kadeena and what she means to the local community, demonstrating her courage and resilience as a role model to all Chapeltown residents, particularly young people. To us, the mural shows the community local pride, identity, and empowerment which was the driving force to bring the project to fruition. We are delighted to showcase Kadeena and her impact on the community front and centre of the building for the time to come.
When we were approached about having a mural of Kadeena at The Reginald Centre, we jumped at the chance. The Reginald Centre is a real hub in the neighbourhood, providing a one-stop-shop for the community from GP appointments and dentistry, to library and council services and school holiday clubs for children. It therefore seems fitting that the centre can be used to celebrate one of the community’s success stories, and inspire the next generation of sporting stars from Chapeltown.
This beautiful new artwork is the culmination of more than a year of research, planning, teamwork and creativity and it’s incredible to see the murals brightening up the city in all their glory. The murals also a visual representation of the passion and love for sport that’s been shown by our project volunteers and their collective determination to honour these sporting heroes and their stories. That more than anything is the ideal tribute and something the city can hopefully be proud of for many years to come.
This project is a great example of what can be achieved through collaboration, dedication, and a shared commitment to celebrating heroes at the heart of local communities.
About The Reginald Centre, Leeds
Community Health Partnerships are joint head tenant at the Reginald Centre with Leeds City Council, with the building owned by Community Ventures Leeds Ltd (LIFTCo). The Reginald Centre, is a busy neighbourhood centre, constructed in 2010, supporting health services closer to home for patients, as well as a Leeds City Council community hub providing services, hosting many community events, charities, and voluntary groups supporting the local community. There is also a well-used café.
Health services at The Reginald Centre include a GP surgery (Westfield Medical Centre), community dental health, the speech and language therapy team, and the community services team from Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust (www.leedscommunityhealthcare.nhs.uk).
The Reginald Centre Community Hub (www.leeds.gov.uk/community-hubs/reginald-centre) offers a wide range of Leeds City Council services tailored to the needs of the Chapeltown community. The busy hub offers support with a wide range of Council services such as welfare and benefit advice, support with housing applications and support with money management. Alongside a busy library offering digital support, social groups and activities and an extensive book catalogue. The Hub also offers Employment support, helping people to access local job opportunities and training. Working closely with key stakeholders such as Linking Leeds, Family Hubs, the Migration team alongside charity providers The Help Team, Money Buddies and Citizens Advice Bureau the team are proud to offer such a wide reach of services to support local people.
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