New initiative launched by Lord Mayor to turn shared heritage into Leicester community support

A new community initiative with roots in Ondo, Nigeria, has launched in Leicester with an ambition to harness the skills, experience and collective strength of its members to make a positive difference across the city.

Èkímògún Leicester was officially launched on 29 August 2026 at the Party House, Leicester, bringing together people connected by a shared heritage around a wider purpose supporting underrepresented and underserved individuals and families, strengthening connections and creating opportunities for people to thrive.

Founded by Dr Oluseyi Ogunfusika, the initiative will focus on areas including health and wellbeing, mentorship, education, support for young people, students and families, social connection, volunteering and signposting to existing local services.

A key part of its vision is to encourage professionals and established community members to contribute their time, knowledge and experience for the benefit of others, while working alongside organisations already serving communities across Leicester.

At its heart is a simple belief: a strong community should not only celebrate together, but show up for others too.

The Lord Mayor of Leicester, Councillor Kulwinder Singh Johal, attended the launch as Special Civic Guest and spoke about the important role community networks can play in helping communities flourish.

Reflecting on the experiences of earlier generations who made Leicester their home, the Lord Mayor observed that communities might have thrived even more had initiatives offering this kind of connection and support existed 50 years ago.

He also encouraged Èkímògún Leicester not to “reinvent the wheel”, but to collaborate with established societies, voluntary groups and charitable organisations, learning from the wealth of experience and community work already taking place across the city.

That message closely reflects the approach Èkímògún Leicester intends to take. Rather than duplicating existing services, the organisation hopes to listen, build partnerships and identify areas of genuine unmet need where the skills, resources and voluntary efforts of its members could make a meaningful contribution.

Aretha Akinluyi, one of the key organisers of the launch, said:

“Èkímògún Leicester may have started from our shared Ondo roots, but our ambition is much wider.

Leicester is our home too, and we want to contribute positively to the city we live in. “We have people within our community with skills and experience across healthcare, education, business and many other professions.

We want to work alongside organisations already doing incredible work, listen to where the gaps are and ask what we, through our time, skills and collective experience, can genuinely do to help.”

Future activities will be shaped by identified community needs, with a particular focus on underrepresented and underserved groups, young people and families, alongside opportunities for volunteering, mentorship and community partnership.

For Èkímògún Leicester, its Ondo heritage is where the story begins, rather than where it ends.

The hope is that a community brought together by shared roots can grow into something with a much wider purpose people using what they have, where they are, to help others move forward.

Èkímògún Leicester: Our Roots. Our People. Our Future.

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Photo 1:

From right: Founder Dr Oluseyi Ogunfusika; Lord Mayor of Leicester, Councillor Kulwinder Singh Johal; and Co-founder Aretha Akinluyi at the official launch of Èkímògún Leicester at the Party House, Leicester.