projectarticle

Undergraduate ParliaMentors began as an opportunity to benefit from the career guidance of an MP, and to gain valuable work experience. However, I came to see it as a chance to make a difference. The vision behind the programme, to bring together students from the three Abrahamic faiths to work towards the common good, was more realised than we could have foreseen: at no point did our religious or even political differences become an issue.

As required by the programme, we designed and ran a project called “Politics Works”. We wanted to teach young people about political campaigning and equip them with the necessary tools to make their campaigns successful. Our MP, Sadiq Khan, helped by putting us in touch with Graveney School in his Tooting constituency, and we sought the advice of the Citizenship Foundation when planning our workshops. The pupils we worked with were initially a handful but soon developed an understanding of what they could gain from the project.

We taught them about the importance of debate, and then assisted them in writing a speech, making posters, and filming a video about the challenges they faced as young people in their local area. We then arranged a parliamentary tour and lobby where they presented Sadiq with the work they had done on the project. He was very impressed and pledged to support their campaign.

Six months on, I regard my involvement in the programme as one of the high points of my undergraduate years. I made good friends, achieved something real, and showed myself as well as a class of young people that at its best, politics really does work. As part of the Alumni network I remain in touch with the other ParliaMentors participants and look forward to working with them on future projects.

>Read the 'Politics Works' project report

Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.