A Manor Park political summer programme has been hailed a huge success by participants and observers after its two-day completion.

The Politics School, organised by Manor Park Councillors Jenny Bailey, Mariam Dawood and Salim Patel, gave students the chance to learn about local politics and the environment and enabled them to gain new skills, interact with local and national leaders and boost their confidence in tackling the challenges that lie ahead.

The students, between the ages of ten and 15, including younger siblings, learnt about local politics and the environment through fun activities such as planting their herbs, trying out smoothie bikes, creating posters, taking part in prize-winning quizzes, learning about campaigns and meeting lots of inspirational change-makers.

Mayor of Newham, Rokhsana Fiaz, paid a surprise visit to the students congratulating them on their progress. “The Manor Park Politics School is a great opportunity for young people in Newham to get involved. I want young people involved in decision making, increasing their influence and helping to shape Newham.”

The second day saw the students, and parents, go on a trip to Parliament, with a tour of both the House of Lords and Commons, followed by a Q and A session with local MP Sir Stephen Timms. “There is great value in the initiative that Mariam, and others, have started. It is important for young people to see how society is run, as many young people feel disenchanted. We need to encourage young people to get properly involved in politics, and initiatives like this are a great way to do that”.

Shabina Afzal, a parent who accompanied the students on the trip, said: “I enrolled my child to give them the opportunity to recognise that they too can achieve their full potential and be like the people that they hear of on a daily basis making important decisions that affect many people. I feel the event was well structured and targeted its audience and my daughter thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Aneesa, aged 11, also enjoyed the programme saying: “I can’t believe that Sir Stephen Timms was interested and listened to our ideas and hopes for the future. This made me feel good that it’s not just the adults who get a say about our community and that the children’s voices are heard.”

“What I enjoyed about the summer politics school is the part when we went to the House of Commons and saw where the speaker sits,” said Yahya, aged 13. “My favourite part about the trip is the tour we had and the place where the Queen sat was amazing. The second-best part is the part where we went into the room with all the pictures of the kings and queens.”

At the end of the programme, the children were awarded certificates presented by Stephen Timms, in a parliament committee room.

Mariam Dawood, Councillor for Manor Park, said: “We want to encourage young people to get involved in change-making and support the future generation of leaders. As part of our programme, the students were introduced to mentors with expertise in the civil service, advertising, writing, medicine, journalism and inclusion.”

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