By Caroline Millman | Chairman, PeaceJam UK
With the support from our GlobalGiving donors, we continue to organise events for young people to inspire and educate, and help them feel empowered to take action to improve their lives and the lives of others.
Our one-day PeaceJam UK Slam, “Perseverance”, on Saturday 11 March 2023 at The University of Winchester provided 50 young people with the opportunity to experience inspiration and education from young activists with powerful messages. They heard from and questioned: Syeda Batool Zehra Zaid, the first asylum seeker to attend Cardiff Law School who has been lobbying for the access of refugees and asylum seekers to higher education for the past 5 years. And Mark Murray who is part of the Ubuntu Roundtable Project in London and facilitates the coming together of young people and police officers to share their perspectives, experiences and beliefs, resolve tensions and find common ground. There were also workshops around the issues of knife crime, and the challenges faced by asylum seekers and refugee. Small discussions groups provided safe and brave spaces for sharing opinions and views on difficult subjects, and helped the young participants feel confident enough to tell the whole group who and what inspires them.
Some of the comments from the student participants emphasise the impact of these events:
“It is an amazing event to discuss really important issues that affect our lives”. 13 year-old girl.
Share one specific thing you learned today:
“A first step to a plan is courage”. 13-year-old girl.
“Your voice matters more than you think” 14-year-old girl.
“The discussion was honest, fun and well informed, which has motivated me to enact change.” 15-year-old boy
“I learnt that in order to make a change you can’t always wait for an opportunity to come your way, you have to make the first move.” 17-year-old girl
During the afternoon there was a Social Action Project planning session when the school and youth groups could discuss what action they might take as a result of their experiences at the Slam. At the end of April there will be a follow-up session, carried out online and providing the young people with an opportunity to share their plans and how they are progressing. There was also much fun, particular with our Laughter Therapist, Robin Graham, and lots of singing and dancing at the “Jam”!
This event was planned by our PeaceJam UK Youth Leadership Team and took us in a slightly different direction. But as a completely “youth led” event, its success has given us some excellent grounding for similar events in the future. With the funds provided by our GlobalGiving donors, these events can grow, and we can reach even more young people. Thank you very much for your continued support.
By Caroline Millman | Chairman, PeaceJam UK
By Caroline Millman | Chairman, PeaceJam UK
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