News

Peer Facilitators meet Boris Johnson

The Immediate Theatre Peer Facilitators were invited to give feedback to the Mayor about the concerns of young people, such as: gang crime, why it happens and how we can minimize and eventually obliterate crime altogether. The opportunity arose through the Youth Offending Team, of which the three PF’s are all involved, and showed just how far they had come: from offending youths to ‘ambassadors of change’.

Although he’s glad he had the chance to discuss issues with the mayor, Seyyid felt a bit let down by the event. “I hope the meeting with the Mayor will help the officials deal with youth-related problems more efficiently. I was happy to be given the opportunity to speak my mind, however I don’t think the Mayor completely took in what went on in the meeting. It seemed to me like they (the mayor and his staff) already had their minds made up and just wanted to hear their opinions come out of our mouths.”

Daniel was more upbeat about the meeting. “The meeting with the mayor was great - he seemed real and managed to show his authority without being rude. As we spoke about youth crime, its causes and how to minimise it, I felt he was really open minded about everyone’s opinions and suggestions. Boris even asked if we could make more regular meetings and also suggested that we get involved in mentoring to help sort out our youth problems. I thoroughly enjoyed the meeting.”

Ornella shared Daniel’s optimism about the occasion. “I really enjoyed having the opportunity to meet someone as influential as Boris Johnson. It was also refreshing to see that someone with so much power could be so down-to-earth and humble. The meeting consisted mainly of the officials asking us young people questions, and concluded with the Mayor promising to increase apprenticeships and jobs available to youths/young offenders. Now all that’s left to do is monitor the progress of these promises and see what happens.”

By Ornella Hardie