PRESS RELEASE 10,000 Hands Making Lewisham City Safe Every secondary school pupil in Lewisham coming together, to bring the City Safe Haven campaign to the borough. Young people taking a ‘10,000 Hand’ message of hope to The Mayor of London, Number 10 Downing Street, leading the way for every other borough in London; and every other city in the world. On the 15 March, 2013, all Lewisham Secondary Schools, The Jimmy Mizen Foundation, Lewisham MET, the Mayor, MP’s, Citizens UK and youth organisations are coming together to launch - ‘Lewishams 10,000 Hands’. Over the next year the 10,000 Hands will bring together Lewisham : four events - the biggest being every pupil in Lewisham working together to spell out the letters C I T Y S A F E across the borough. This will be filmed by London MPS Helicopter, India 99, and hopefully other press helicopters. This is a follow up to the 1,000 Hands Event - http://bit.ly/citySafe1000 - which which took place in Brockley last year. THE EVENTS Event One - Launches at Lewisham Town Hall. Four workshops during the day run by London Citizens, the Jimmy Mizen Foundation, Second Wave, Stop and Search, and Lewisham MET. During the lunch, 1pm to 2pm, the communal area of the Town Hall will be set up as a ‘market’ where youth organisation from South London will be showcasing their work. The event will close with a Q&A with a panel comprising of - Barry Mizen (Jimmy Mizen Foundation), Heidi Alexander MP, CSI Nyman (Lewisham MET), and the Young Mayor of Lewisham. Event Two This will be a ‘Five a Side’ tournament at Milwall football ground, 5 ambassadors from every school playing in a friendly competition. This is followed by London Citizens and the Jimmy Mizen Foundation training on how to bring the City Safe Haven campaign to their schools and communities. Event Three The 10,000 Hands event, every pupil in every secondary school takes part, coming out of their buildings to form one of the letters of CITY SAFE at a the same time on the same day. Every pupil also places their purple hand print on their schools City Safe Banner. Event Four We would like to end with a celebration at City Hall where we wrap building in the ‘10,000 Hands Roll of Hope’ and tell the Mayor of London what Lewisham has achieved with the City Safe Havens. We would like to ask, that he commits to help us; and challenge the other boroughs of London. We will then walk to to Downing Street where we would like to unroll the banner and celebrate the success an hope of Lewishams young people with the Prime Minister. Why are we doing this? The event will bring together every secondary school in Lewisham, and ultimately every pupil in Lewisham. The day will look at ways in which we can all work together, young people and agencies and organisations that exist for them, to make our streets, community and borough safer. Additionally, the day will mark the first, of four events, celebrating the City Safe Haven campaign, our schools and Lewisham. MORE IMPORTANTLY though, this will help sustainably introduce the City Safe Haven campaign to the whole of Lewisham Borough. Introducing the campaign to an area is very simple and costs nothing other than time. The challenge for the campaign is sustaining these relationships, this requires a group to take ownership and responsibility of it. The community's children are those best placed to act as champions because ... Schools have the time and structure to organise and sustain the campaign. Schools are geographically well placed to take ownership of the town centres. Children who feel their community cares for them return this care. Children perhaps have the most to gain. The Community, Police and Schools benefit because of … Safer communities. A reduction in anti-social behaviour and crime locally. Improved relationships with local communities. Genuine community engagement. Meaningful and active citizenship for pupils. Positive publicity for the schools. No real costs. Why the City Safe Haven is so important ... The City Safe Haven campaign is a large and beautiful idea. It simply asks people to come together, to talk, and offer to care for each other. The idea is immediately understood and mutually beneficial. The campaign builds relationships, breaks down barriers and reminds us that the shops, streets, and children belong to us. NOTES FOR THE EDITOR The Pupils behind the idea. Camilla Yahaya - originally from Marseille, moved to London, 3 years ago with no English language, she is now studying for English, Maths, Triple Science, History, Geography, Art, Religion, Citizenship and Sociology, and is teaching herself Mandarin. A member of the City Safe Haven campaign, designed to make her community closer and safer. Camilla volunteers at the Good Hope Cafe every Sunday that was opened by the Mizen Family last year in memory of Jimmy Mizen who was murdered in 2008. Camilla aspires to become a politician and “work for the people, bringing about real change in my community”. Ade Osundina - has lived in Catford for 3 years with his mum and 15 year old sister. He picked his school because of the motto 'Strive for Excellence', this summer he is working a summer job enable him to save for University. Ade is very passionate about sport, being a big NBA and Rowing fan. He says, “the Olympics have been a magical time for me, especially with my hope and dream of rowing for Oxford and Team GB”. This is not just a wild dream as Ade has qualified for Mossbourne Rowing Academy, with aptitude test results showing that he is in the top 0.001% of the opulation for this ability or potential in the sport. Ade will be taking part in the London Youth Games. Rianna Li-Bailey - wishes to train as a human rights lawyer, to speak on behalf of those of those who don’t have a voice. She feels it is important to “not only take from your community but to also give back, in doing so creating a fairer society - enabling all, regardless of age, race, background to have the same rights and access as I have enjoyed”. Rianna is studying for 12 GCSE’s predicted A and A* in all subjects, and is being sponsored by her college to study Latin. She is an excellent athlete, a keen runner, also regularly playing football, rugby and netball. Rianna also finds time to volunteer at the Cafe of Good Hope, with whom she climbed Snowdon in memory of Jimmy Mizen this summer. US Presidential Election In October 2012 Camilla, Ade and Rianna flew to Florida with the ACT Inspired US to take part in the 2012 Presidential election; working with and supporting the Obama campaign. As well as working with the Elect Obama campaign team, they were also mentored and trained by some of the UK’s leading campaign managers. The campaign they developed whilst in America was the ‘10,000 Hands’. ACT INSPIRED US was a unique initiative, of The Transformation Trust and E-ACT, designed to give exceptional sixth form students from some of the most socially and economically challenged parts of the country the opportunity of a lifetime, by participating in the 2012 U.S. elections. The Transformation Trust is an independent children’s charity that funds extra-curricular activities in schools in some of the most challenged parts of England. www.transformationtrust.org.uk E-ACT is a leading educational social enterprise that develops academies and schools across England. www.E-ACT.org.uk Who can I contact : Lewisham 10,000 - Simon Jones (to talk with the pupils behind the event) Prendergast Ladywellfields College, Manwood Road, SE4 1SA [email protected] - 07930348144 Lewisham Town Hall Enquiries Katy Brown, Mayors Office [email protected] - 020 8314 6000 / 07957 198312 Lewisham Town Hall, Catford Road, SE6 4RU LCPCG - Lewisham Community Police Consultative Group (and Stop and Search Scrutiny Group) Daisy Cairns c/o Lewisham Town Hall, Catford Road, SE6 4RU [email protected] 020 8314 8975 The Jimmy Mizen Foundation - Barry 214 Hither Green Lane London, United Kingdom SE13 6RT 0208 852 7855 Citizens UK - Peter 112 Cavell Street, London E1 2JA, UK [email protected] 07886 444 311 Second Wave - Phil Second Wave Youth Arts 1st Floor, Deptford Methodist Mission, 1 Creek Road, Deptford, London SE8 3BT Tel: 020 8694 2444 Email: [email protected] Lewisham MET SI Gary Madams 43 Lewisham High Street SE13 5JZ SUPPORT THE EVENT ONLINE www.twitter.com/lewisham10000 ABOUT CITY SAFE HAVENS City Safe is a campaign organised by charitable alliance CITIZENS UK and LONDON CITIZENS It grew out of the loss of twelve young lives across London and is dedicated to Jimmy Mizen. Launched at the O2 in 2009 in front of 2,500 young citizens it has established over 250 Safe Havens across the capital, including Lewisham Town Hall and City Hall. Jimmy Mizen http://www.familiesutd.com/the-families/jimmys-story/ More about City Safe http://www.citizensuk.org/campaigns/citysafe-campaign/ http://www.jimmymizen.org/projects/safe-havens/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18365410 ttp://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/jun/07/safe-havens-bullied-teenagers Video of Lewishams 500 Hands (2012) http://youngcitizens.weebly.com/500-hands.html Other Useful Links Jimmy Mizen Foundation http://www.jimmymizen.org/ London Citizens http://www.citizensuk.org/ Second Wave http://www.secondwave.org.uk/ Lewisham MET http://content.met.police.uk/Borough/Lewisham Why is City Safe is so important ... The City Safe Haven campaign is a large and beautiful idea. It simply asks people to come together, to talk, and offer to care for each other. The idea is immediately understood and mutually beneficial. The campaign builds relationships, breaks down barriers and reminds us that the shops, streets, and children belong to us. When did it start .. City Safe is a campaign organised by charitable alliance CITIZENS UK and LONDON CITIZENS. It grew out of the loss of twelve young lives across London and is dedicated to Jimmy Mizen. Launched at the O2 in 2009 in front of 2,500 young citizens it has established over 250 Safe Havens across the capital, including Lewisham Town Hall and City Hall. |
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