Voices blog

At the beginning of July I joined the Citizenship Foundation as a Press and Events Intern in the Communications Team. I arrived to a whirlwind of planning, correspondence, and a mammoth ‘to-do’ list in preparation for an upcoming event at the House of Lords called ‘Young People Driving Change‘.

As a relative newcomer to the Citizenship Foundation I was unsure of what to expect in the run up to ‘Young People Driving Change’. Those involved in the organisational process had obviously put a lot of hard work in, but did this mean it was going to be a success? In one word - yes.

Although any event that runs smoothly, has a fantastic turnout and is granted the blessing of the English weather, (all of which true of last Wednesday) can be classed as a success, I think that an event needs to achieve far more than that to qualify. For me the true measure of success is in the ‘feel’ of an event and what we take away from it as individuals.

The ‘Young People Driving Change’ event definitely had the ‘feel good factor’. I would challenge anybody not to be inspired by so many ambitious, innovative young people voicing their opinions and talking so passionately about a wide range of issues. From deforestation in Cambodia to the issues facing Muslims in the wake of 9/11, young people of all ages illustrated to ministers, barristers, and other professionals how they were making a positive change in society. However, I would have to say the group of young people that impressed me the most were those involved in the Value Life project, an anti-knife and gun crime campaign. From a thousand strong peace march to producing a film, the phrase ‘the sky is the limit’ obviously features strongly in their mindset.

As an individual I also gained a lot from the event. As well as cementing my belief that young people can really make a difference if presented with the right opportunities, the event also opened my eyes to the benefits of these projects for the young people participating in them. Such projects build young people’s confidence and provide them with valuable skills they can use throughout life.

Overall I left the event feeling inspired to get involved in more voluntary work, optimistic that the Citizenship Foundation can really make a difference, and somewhat envious that I had not had the chance to partake in citizenship myself when I was at school.

Yesterday a team of Citizenship Foundation staff headed off to a West end premiere of Value Life, a movie by a group of students from Gladesmore Community School to tackle the issue of gun and knife crime in London.

It was amazing to arrive at the Prince Charles cinema to be greeted by a red carpet and lots of students from the school, apart the lack paparazzi it was like every film premiere I had ever seen on TV!!

Students were clearly proud of the achievements of the small cast who had worked with a professional director and two professional actors including Lindsey Coulson (who plays Carol Jackson in Eastenders).

As we settled down in the most comfy seats in the world to watch the film, I was filled with pride and nervous energy in equal measure. Pride because the Value Life project started as a result of Youth Act training with 9 students and two teachers five years ago and here we were in the West End with professional actors and an audience of about 250 people; nervous energy because I hadn’t seen the film and I wasn’t sure what it would be like.

The film is a 20 minute short about the reality of the lives of many young people who get sucked into the gun and knife crime culture - young people who are basically good but find themselves making major adult decisions over their ego, their family, their friends with easy access to weapons.

It was really important to see how easy it was to fall into using a knife or a gun: a pushy boyfriend can talk you into holding a gun for him; anger about a stabbing can result in you wanting revenge - it was all so easy, it was all so tragic, it was all so preventable!

The students are showing the film in Wood Green on the 20th of July - if you can, book a ticket to see it!