Founded by six year 7 pupils in Prendergast Ladywell Fields College, Young Citizens connects young people concerned about violence and crime with the individuals and organisations who can help, with the aim of improving the safety of the Lewisham community and the lives of those within it.
Twitter @youngCitizens
Who we are
Where we're based
Lewisham
When we started
July 2009
How we started
The Young Citizens Project was established by six year 7 pupils at Prendergast Ladywell Fields College. It has now developed into a group of 150 students who frequently meet with Lewisham's Mayor, MP's, local councillors and the Police to voice their ideas regarding community change.
Our work
Young Citizens have worked together to fund, organise and run six campaigns, all with the aim of changing their community for the better. Each one, from 'City Safe Havens' and 'Road Safety' to their environmentally friendly 'Litter' and 'Eco-team' campaigns, emphasises the importance of social responsibility and active involvement in order to make communities safer for everyone.
Young Citizens have reached across the bridge between North and South to 'twin' young people in Lewisham with those in Liverpool, and their concerns for safety have resulted in the opening of the first 'City Safe Haven' in Lewisham Shopping Centre.
Future plans
The group will continue listening to and voicing the changing concerns of local young people, as well as spreading the success of their main campaigns to other primary and secondary schools across Lewisham and London.
The Young Citizen's activities also have a broader national and international resonance, and they aim to work with other PLAnet nominees to make an even bigger difference, as well as investigating work in Baltimore and Africa.
Project website
http://www.youngcitizens.weebly.com
"For the first time we had not been listened to as children...We were being treated as equals, we had been judged by what we had said, people had heard our voice rather than looked at who was saying it."
Alice, a founder of the Young Citizens Project
