Dancing Strictly contestant John Goodwin speaks to JLife’s Katherine Howard about mastering dance moves, fundraising feats and major influences.

When asked who his dream dancing partner would be, John Goodwin answered ‘Hattie Jacques’. John’s always up for a laugh and a challenge. This is one of the reasons why he’s embarking on one of the most potentially embarrassing moments of his life – he’s taking part in community fundraiser Dancing Strictly, a North Leeds version of BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, which is taking place this month. “The whole concept of never having danced before and appearing in front of 500 people in a spandex type of outfit, I mean, there’s no point in doing it if you can’t see the funny side!” laughs John. John is no stranger to going to extreme lengths for good causes. He has raised money for various children’s charities by running the New York Marathon and various half marathons, and hitting the dance floor is no less challenging: “I’m training two nights a week and on Sundays, all for a 90 second routine. It doesn’t sound much but, believe me, it’s a lot of moves!”

Simon Brown, a youth worker at The Zone, speaks to Katherine Howard about the youth centre’s role in the Leeds Jewish community and why home is where the heart is.

Arek Hersh MBE, who last month was awarded the Special Achievement Award at the LJWB Leeds Jewish Community Pride Awards, speaks to JLife’s Katherine Howard about surviving the Holocaust and educating future generations.

“And that was a little bit of my wartime experience,” says Arek Hersh MBE as our interview comes to a close. A huge understatement and a retort at the assertion made by fascist leader Le Pen that the Holocaust was ‘a detail of history’ (which is also the title of Arek’s autobiography). For the past 13 years Arek has devoted his time to educating young people about the Holocaust, speaking at schools and colleges around the country as well as twice monthly talks at the Beth Shalom Holocaust Centre in Nottinghamshire. For several years he was involved in taking young people to Poland for Unison, the public service trade union. “It’s important for me to educate people about what actually happened to me. I lost 81 of my family – that’s just one story, many people lost everybody as well,” he says.

North Leeds-based Illustrator Rosalind Wilson talks to JLife’s Katherine Howard about how a cheeky monkey brought her to the attention of Marks & Spencer.

“My sister rang me from M&S on Oxford Street to tell me she’d seen my greeting card designs there, it was so exciting. I still feel like a child when I think about it. Hopefully I’ll become more blasé at some point!” says Rosalind. Chances are you’ve already come across Rosalind Wilson’s illustrations and designs.