Leeds City Council's South East Area Management Team is co-ordinating a Beat the Credit Crunch event in Middleton to give people advice and guidance on how to get through these current testing times.

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Taking place on Saturday, July 4, from noon until 3pm at Middleton Leisure Centre, the event will provide local people the opportunity to find out more about training and job opportunities by visiting the new mobile Job Shop Bus, have a chance to talk to advisors about starting up a business, as well as being able to get advice and guidance on money matters and benefits.

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Fun family activities will also be taking place from cake decorating to flower arranging, there will be something for all the family and, best of all, the event is totally free.

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Also taking place, will be the third heat of the Inner South Area Committee funded I Love South Leeds Festival Junior Superstar competition for under 11s from 1pm to see which five acts will make it through to the grand finale taking place at Holbeck Gala on 11th July.

So far dancers, singers, a Michael Jackson impersonator and a comedian have made it through to the final event. Another I Love South Leeds activity taking place on Saturday 4th July is the Middleton Mile in Middleton Park – a mile fun run for under 19s. For more details about I Love South Leeds – visit the website ilovesouthleeds.com

The weekend of the July 4 also sees the Middleton Park FC football gala. A number of teams from West Yorkshire compete in a number of age categories over a two day tournament.

This will also be taking place on the football pitches around Middleton Leisure Centre.

The Beat the Credit Crunch event links into the 10-year Middleton Regeneration Strategy, led by local councillors and supported by Re'new, which aims to make the area a better place to live in over the next decade. Just one part of the Strategy aims to put together a set of actions which will attempt to deal with issues of worklessness, training and provision of support for people wanting to start a new business.

A number of partner organisations are providing activities as part of the Beat the Credit Crunch Event along with South East Area Management, these include Aire Valley Homes Leeds, Health For All, Learning Partnerships, Leeds City Council Jobs & Skills, Leeds Chamber of Commerce and Job Centre Plus.