A group of thirteen students accompanied by Mr Neenan and Mr Sullivan took part in the first ever London City Hall ‘take over’ by young people and campaigning groups on Saturday afternoon. This event was part of WAY (Who Are Ya?), the Greater London Authority’s St. George’s Day Festival for Young People. Organised by Rebecca Palmer of New Direction, the intention was to enable young people to meet and discuss the future of London through a market-place of organisations and series of work-shops under the heading of ‘Identity’. The aim of the day was to engage ‘future leaders’ and ‘change-makers’ to explore how young people identify themselves, and their peers, in British society today. The organisers hoped to empower and inspire everyone attending by using a mixture of talks, debates, creative workshops and live music, “To delve deeper in to the complexity of British identity from three angles: Who am I? Who are we? Who are they?”

Our delegation was younger than others but was curious and eager to participate nonetheless. We took pupils from Years 8 to 10 and, once inside, separated to participate in the different work-shops. Our brave group included: Tracey A., Precious A., Eniola A., Saima A., Kavirang B., Zoe D., Anjali J., Melissa K., Jasmeen M., Aria M., Katie P., Jahnavi S. and last but not least, Muge Y..

In the foyer marketplace at the start we moved around different stalls set up by groups such as ‘All London Voices’, ‘Big Dance’, ‘Cardboard Citizens’ and ‘Speed Volunteering’. Shortly afterwards we signed-up for the various workshops with titles such as Spoken Word, Theatre, Photography, Cultural Challenge, Politics & Debating, & Change London. Despite their youth our groups made sure our voices and opinions were heard. Of particular interest was the Politics and Debate session which was organised by the ‘Bite the Ballot’ organisation. Mr Neenan and Mr Sullivan witnessed our students getting involved in policy-making and discussion followed by a short speech-making session and election where our representative, Jasmeen M. was involved in a dead heat or tied vote for her political party.

The day finished with light refreshments being served in the upper meeting room or ‘London Living Room’ with live music performances and speeches of thanks. Having taken pictures of the sumptuous views across the Thames and Tower Bridge, we took out opportunity to leave at this point for our journey home. An exhausting but interesting & worthwhile day was had by all. We aim to send an even larger delegation with the intention of making even more of an impact to the next WAY/’Who Are Ya?’ event.

Mr Sullivan & Mr Neenan.