Extra
Wednesday 22nd February 2012 18:00 to 20:45
TWITTER: C4UpRise
Five pairs of of young people aged 18 to 24 will ask the panel five questions. They are young people who are who are undecided on which way too vote at the 2012 London mayoral election, which will be held on Thursday 3rd May 2012 to elect the Mayor of London. It will be the fourth election since the office of Mayor of London was created in 2000. Boris Johnson is seeking re-election for a second term as Mayor. The Mayor from 2000 to 2008, Ken Livingstone, is seeking a third, non-consecutive term as the Labour candidate, Brian Paddick is standing for the Liberal Democrats, along with the Green Parties Jenny Jones and London resisdent Siobhan Benita.
An Evening Discussion: Young People, Equality, Diversity and the Mayor aims to discuss equality and diversity issues to see if the debate will encourage a sway in views and candidacy by featuring creativity and young people as part of the movement for change.
The evening will include a performance by the young accliamed musician and spoken word artist singer/cellist Ayanna.
The Chair
Bonnie Greer OBE
Bonnie studied theatre in Chicago under David Mamet, in New York City at the Actors Studio with Elia Kazan, and has lived in the UK since 1986 and became a citizen in 1997. Her award-winning plays, books and novels are concerned with the lives of minorities within majority cultures, particularly those of women, and have been broadcast on the BBC and featured internationally at festivals and theatres.
In 2005 she was appointed to the British Museum's Board of Trustees and in 2009 she was promoted to Deputy Chairman. Bonnie was appointed OBE in the 2010 Birthday Honours for her contribution to the arts.
The Panel
Siobhan Benita
Siobhan is a successful working mum who has resigned from her senior Whitehall job to run in the Mayor election. Siobhan joined the Civil Service in 1996 and as a senior official at the Cabinet Office she led major projects across Government and has worked with ministers and officials at the very highest levels.
During her career Siobhan has devoted a lot of her time to improving diversity, and she is passionate about improving opportunities for everyone and to speak for people and groups who don’t usually get heard.
Boris Johnson
TBC
Jenny Jones
Jenny Jones is the Green Party’s Mayoral candidate and has been a London Assembly Member since its start in 2000. She grew up in Brighton and has lived in Lesotho in southern Africa, and the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean.
Before entering politics, Jenny worked as an archaeologist, studying carbonised plant remains, mostly in the Middle East. Jones has been named among London’s 1,000 Most Influential Londoners every year since the award’s inception.
Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone was born in Streatham, and worked as a lab technician at Chester Beatty cancer research unit upon leaving school. He has hosted a weekly phone-in for LBC 97.3 on Saturday mornings since 2008 and appeared on the Blur album ‘The Great Escape’.
Ken was London’s first elected mayor from May 2000. Born in Lambeth and now living in Cricklewood, Ken Livingstone is a Londoner first and foremost. From better transport and lower fares to climate change and addressing inequality, Ken has always been on the cutting edge of politics.
www.kenlivingstone.com
Brian Paddick
Brian Paddick served for over 30 years in the London Metropolitan Police, rising to the rank of Deputy Assistant Commissioner and the highest-ranking officer in any UK police force to be openly gay.
Brian first came to national prominence for his effective, liberal approach to drugs law enforcement and his close working relationship with the African Caribbean community. Subsequently, he also developed close links with the Muslim community in London as a result of being the police spokesperson following the 7 July 2005 London bombings.
www.brianpaddick.com
Performer
Ayanna
British vocalist, cellist and composer Ayanna is leading the way in Black folk music. She is the first non-American to win the legendary Amateur Night at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem – and one of only a handful of people to win with an original composition.
She is a former Emerging Artist in Residence at London’s Southbank Centre, participant in the London Symphony Orchestra’s Discovery Panufnik Young Composers Scheme and the holder of music degrees from Trinity College of Music and Manhattan School of Music. Her collaborations include 4Hero, Courtney Pine, Nitin Sawhney and a host of international artists including Chinese folk artist Xiao Juen and the Australian Indigenous musical force Black Arm Band.
This event is in partnership with:
UpRise is a collective of ordinary people who believe in extraordinary change of unconditional equality and inclusivity in society, and seek to deliver creative ways of campaigning against racism, prejudice and all forms of discrimination.
The UpRise mantra is “A new vision, for an age-old issue, in a new epoch”, and the mission is to resign racism to the history books where it belongs.
www.uprise.org.uk
This session will be held at Channel 4 in London:
Channel 4 Television Corporation
124 Horseferry Road
London
SW1P 2TX
Click here to view on a map
Nearest tube: St James Park, Westminster and Victoria
Anyone over 18 can register to attend this event. Entry is by invitation only which will be emailed to you before the day. All names must be pre registered on the guest list. If you would like to bring someone with you they must register too. Due to space limitations a ramdom section process will be used. Channel 4 staff please register through 'Grow'
Wednesday 22nd February 2012 at 18:00 to 20:45
If you would like the chance to attend this event:
Click here to register an interest
This event is open to all Channel 4 staff. External guests are welcome. To contibribute and make this a interesting debate we would encourage Youth Organisations, Influential Young Voices, Creative movers and shakers, Community Leaders to regsiter for the chance to attend.
These are the 10 young people asking the panel questions:
Alex Winning - BSix 6th Form College
Alex is a student at BSix and active in college projects and campaigns. BSix is a high-achieving award-winning Sixth Form College in Hackney, attended by many students from disadvantaged backgrounds with approximately 70% of them eligible for the full amount of EMA in 2010-11.
BSix has been in the top 10 Colleges in London for results at advanced level for the past 4 years. Awards include the LSIS award for Student Voice, London Education Partnership award for Driving Achievement forward (Level 2 to Level 3 progression) and Raising Aspirations University scheme, and the Times Education Supplement Award for Outstanding Marketing & Communications team of the year and Outstanding College of the Year.
www.bsix.ac.uk
Areeb Ullah - Haringey Young People Empowered
Areeb is a student and youth campaigner and an ambassador and mentor for HYPE. HYPE is a youth-led organisation of 40 young people working with the Haringey Community & Police Consultative Group, working on issues of territory and crime, and Engaging young people in policy and decision making.
Many of the young people fell into various categories of social exclusion, including those known to the Youth Offending Service, looked after care and various inclusion/behaviour programmes within the borough. The collaborative partnership HYPE has developed has enabled the development of knowledge, skills and values that can bring about personal and social change.
www.haringeycpcg.org.uk/pdf/HYPE_Consult.pdf
Samuel Kusumu - Elevation Networks
Samuel is the founder of youth employment social enterprise, Elevation Networks, and a board member of the Peace Alliance in Tottenham. Elevation Networks aims to bridge the gap between under-represented groups and industries, helping young people to become more competitive in the labour market place. They aim to inspire, challenge, and positively influence a generation of young people into a belief system that challenges the impossible, overcomes barriers, and provides a gateway for aspirations to become tangible goals.
EN provides an alternative route for young people and their career paths by providing assistance to find employment in particular but not exclusively for students and graduates from minority ethnic backgrounds, women, and those affected by disability, poverty or social and economic circumstance.
www.elevationnetworks.org
Kayla Whiting - Focused Young Individuals
Kayla was born in Hackney and is a youth media worker, volunteer and freelance project manager. Her short film about dangerous dogs called Hackney Hounds received lots of press coverage, an was screened to a packed cinema audience. At the moment, Kyala is doing youth work but and planning to continue with her film career in order to create a pathway for the next generation.
F.Y.I is a photography exhibition of young creatives shot, produced and promoted by over 30 young people in collaboration with creative professionals and social enterprises. With youth unemployment reaching a new high and the London riots rocking Hackney, thw exhibition was timely. The partners involved all work with young people, promoting positive and creative opportunities as an alternative.
www.focusedyoungindividuals.com
Eliza Reberio - Lives Not Knives
Croydon resident, Eliza Reberio, set up Lives Not Knives at age 14, after being deeply moved by the youth violence and crime in and around the area that she lived. Since 2007 the organisation has grown significantly and is now led by a team of young mentors who all have experiences of social exclusion, have been victims or perpetrators of crime or have been involved in gangs or weapon carrying.
Their aim is to prevent pre and early teens getting involved in gangs and weapon carrying by teaching them the consequences of these actions by sharing personal experiences. In 2010 LNK has delivered a programme of mentoring in local schools to Year 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 pupils that has been extremely well received and continues to be in demand across the academic year into 2012.
www.livesnotknives.org
Marissa Forrester - London360
Marissa made her modest debut as a feature journalist doing mainly cover stories for fashion & entertainment magazine True. She has completed a competitive internship at Universal Music and graduated with a Media & Cultural Studies degree at the University of The Arts.
Currently she is a reporter for the Community Channel's fortnightly TV magazine show London 360. She has filmed, presented and produced features on Young Entrepreneurs, Mark Champkins (Londoner of the week) and the Amy Winehouse Foundation just to name a few. Marissa also does a regular entertainment report on BBC Radio London, blogs, has published articles in The Voice Newspaper and accomplished voice-over work for the Community Channel. Marissa has been peer mentor to students at her high school and has been on the anti-bullying council.
London360 is a project giving a voice to young Londoners from across the capital. 120 young people aged between 18-25yrs are given the opportunity to work as volunteer community reporters and journalists, reporting on a range of community based campaigns and news stories from across London and packaging them into a fortnightly TV magazine show, which is broadcast on Community Channel.
www.communitychannel.org/london360
Khalid O’Beirne - Media Trust
Khalid was a Runner up of ‘Column Idol’ in 2010. The writing talent search run by The Sun in partnership with Media Trust. Since the project he has continued as a contributor on youth issues for The Sun and spoken on Sky news on the subject of homelessness and volunteering, and on BBC radio on what needs to be done for young people post riots.
Khalid is a Media Trust Youth Ambassador, and now works as a part-time detached youth worker and spends the rest of his time volunteering.
The Media Trust believe in the power of media to change lives, and work with the media industry to empower charities and communities to have a voice and be heard by providing communications skills and resources and harnessing creative industry talent.
www.mediatrust.org
Tarek Chaudhury - Reprezent FM
Tarek Chaudhury presents a Conscious Hip Hop Show, with political and social focuses, on Reprezent 107.3FM. Tarek’s work in radio has been featured on ITV and BBC News, The Guardian Podcast and a number of printed media outlets, most notably for his reporting on the riots in Summer 2011.
Reprezent FM is London’s only youth-led radio station broadcasting to over 350,000 young people across London. The station launched in 2008 with a highly successful one-month FM broadcast focusing on issues around gun and knife crime. Reprezent runs a number of youth media projects and events such as ‘Sounding Out’ and ‘Off the Streetz’. These projects give 13-25 year olds transferable skills to progress onto Reprezent, where they gain real life work experience and volunteering opportunities. Over 3500 young people have been involved in our events, activities and educational projects to date.
www.reprezent.org.uk
Kyle Simmons - Spirit of London Awards
Kyle ‘Kay-Jay’ Simmons was born in South East London and has overcome a troubled background spending 15 years in the care system, and is now an ambitious young Rapper, Singer, Actor and Producer. He has worked in theatre and TV/Film, with such company's as The Old Vic Theatre (The Bridge Project), National Youth Theatre, The Shakespeare's Globe, Vodafone, ITV and the BBC.
Kay-Jay is a Spirit of London Awards Ambassador joining them on their Inspire Roadshow, working with young people who are also in care to empower them and change people's perceptions, breaking stigmas and stereotypes. He is involved in the polictical arena, helping change legislation in Parliament, speaking at Westminster.
The Spirit of London Awards (SOLA) have been created as a fusion of all the great celebrity award shows such as the BRITS and MOBO with the one big difference being - The stars of the show are the unsung young heroes of our local communities and the celebrities are there to applaud and pay homage to them - The Community Oscars.
www.spiritoflondonawards.com
Helen Daniel - 2 Fingers to Violence
2 Fingers to Violence is an anti-violence movement set up by Helen Daniel and Melissa Prosper. It aims to revolutionize anti-violence campaigns by supporting young people and communities, and focussing on creating and promoting the role models already around us.
Their directive is that we are living in a time where working as a collective will be the fastest way in which we all see real change and progression.
www.2fingerstoviolence.com
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