Young Londoners take part in silent march to City Hall

Team London Youth Ambassadors join with Free The Children to go silent for 24 hours and stand up for those who voices are not heard 200 pupils from the Jo Richardson Community School in Dagenham will head to City Hall tomorrow today, when they take part in a silent march, aimed at raising awareness of a variety of contemporary issues, ranging from bullying to racism to child labour and self-harm to homophobia to terrorism. The young Londoners aged 11-18 will be carrying signs and banners highlighting issues that they are going silent for and take up their silent protest on the lower ground floor of City Hall. They have been inspired to take action as a result of their involvement in the Team London Young Ambassadors programme. The initiative was set up by the Mayor of London to get young Londoners involved in volunteering and social action, in their schools and local communities. The silent march is part of the We Are Silent campaign set up by Free the Children, the international charity and educational partner, which delivers the Mayor's Team London Young Ambassadors programme in schools. The We Are Silent campaign challenges young people of all ages to go silent for 24 hours and stand up for those who voices are not heard—the children around the world who are denied their human rights or those here in the UK who are bullied.. Veronica Wadley, Senior Advisor to the Mayor of London on Volunteering said: 'We are delighted to welcome these young Londoners to City Hall. Our Team London Young Ambassadors programme has reached and inspired hundreds of schools and thousands young people across the capital. As well as volunteering and they are developing an awareness of the world in which they live and leading projects for the first time about issues they are passionate about, which will help them develop valuable citizenship skills for the future.' Team London Young Ambassadors is supported by Unilever brightFuture and Spirit of 2012 and delivered in partnership with Free The Children, that educates, engages and empowers young people to become active local and global citizens. The programme's activity is primarily targeted at pupils in year 5 and year 9, though is flexible to accommodate pupils from a range of years throughout primary and secondary school. These pupils will act as catalysts to lead projects and inspire other pupils to get involved in activities to support local community issues, chosen by the pupils. Kala Boller, who teaches at Jo Richardson Community School, said: 'I cannot praise highly enough the Team London Young Ambassadors programme that we have been involved with. Our students are starting to see their dreams and aspirations come to fruition and the ideas that were nurtured by TLYA are now becoming a reality and being seen by everyone in our local community. We are proud of our We Are Silent march, showing that young people do care about the world in which they live and will be motivated to make change happen.' Notes to editors 1. Team London is the Mayor of London's ambitious programme to mobilise an army of volunteers across the capital. The aim is to improve life in London through programmes that will reduce crime, increase opportunities for youth and improve quality of life by cleaning and greening London and building stronger neighbourhoods. Team London has 89,000 registered volunteers and promotes volunteering opportunities for almost 1,250 organisations. For information about volunteering opportunities in London, please go to http://volunteerteam.london.gov.uk @teamLDN 2. Team London Young Ambassadors is supported by Unilever brightFuture and Spirit of 2012 and delivered in partnership with Free The Children, an international charity that educates, engages and empowers young people to become active local and global citizens. The programme’s activity is primarily targeted at pupils in year 5 and year 9, though is flexible to accommodate pupils from a range of years throughout primary and secondary school. These pupils will act as catalysts to lead projects and inspire other pupils to get involved in activities to support local community issues, chosen by the pupils. 3. Free The Children is an international charity and educational partner. Founded in 1995 by international activist Craig Kielburger, Free The Children believes in a world where young people are free to achieve their full potential, and empowers young people to remove barriers that prevent them from being active local and global citizens. The organisation’s domestic programmes—which include We Day, Free The Children's signature youth empowerment event—educate, engage and empower two million young people across the UK, North America and around the world to become engaged global citizens. Its international projects have brought more than 650 schools and school rooms to young people and provided clean water and sanitation, health care and food security to one million people around the world, freeing children and their families from the cycle of poverty. The organisation has received the World's Children's Prize for the Rights of the Child, the Human Rights Award from the World Association of Non‐Governmental Organizations, and has formed successful partnerships with leading educational associations, foundations and organisations. For more information, visit www.freethechildren.co.uk