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NEWS RELEASE

7th July 2009

‘SHINE IN THE HOUSE’: YOUNG REFUGEES JOIN GROUNDBREAKING DEBATE ON TALENT IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS

YOUNG refugees from Liverpool are joining 200 other young people from across the country in a unique debate in the House of Lords chaired by Speaker Baroness Hayman.

The youngsters, including 17-year-old Kurdish artist Irfan, who lives in Liverpool, will be travelling to London this Friday (July 10th) to take part in the first and only non-member debate this year. Some young people have also taken part in a short documentary in the run-up entitled ‘Lording It’, to be shown on the Community Channel.

‘Shine in the House’ is the culmination of thousands of events which have taken place during Shine Week (6th-10th July), a national festival that celebrates the talent of all young people, in association with youth project The Bridge. The young people are choosing their own themes to debate, which will include topics around talent and celebrity.

The young refugees are members of national charity Refugee Action’s Get Connected Project, a scheme in Liverpool for unaccompanied teenagers between 15 and 18 years.

Ronnie Murphy, the manager of Get Connected, said: “The Shine festival is all about instilling confidence in young people. The House of Lords event will bring the voices of youngsters to parliament – an institution from which they often feel disconnected.

“Our young refugees are very excited about this opportunity and are really looking forward to adding their voices to the debate – voices that are heard all too rarely.”

Irfan said: “When I came to the UK I was very disorientated and isolated and I have worked hard to make Liverpool my home. I am honoured to be taking part in such a prestigious debate and look forward to meeting all of the other young people from across Britain and to sitting in the House of Lords!”

The Lord Speaker, Baroness Hayman, said of the event today: “A key skill in this chamber is having the confidence to speak out about things you believe in. These young people have got some great ideas about improving opportunities and why society needs to re-define what it means by talent. We can definitely learn a thing or two and hopefully encourage more of them to pursue their passions and become the leaders of tomorrow. We are delighted to be able to support Shine Week, which recognises the importance of recognising creativity and talent in all young people, who are our future.”

Fiona Blacke, Chief Executive of the National Youth Agency, a lead delivery partner for Shine Week, welcomed the debate in the House of Lords: ‘At a time when the public needs reassurances that our parliamentary system is open and receptive to new ideas, what could be better than better than to inviting such a diverse group of young people to debate in the House of Lords. We’re delighted to be involved in this initiative.”

The Journey to The Lords
Media Trust Productions are filming a special documentary on the event, entitled ‘Lording It’ which will be broadcast on the Community Channel on 28th July at 8pm.
The documentary will follow the journey of three young people, who are representative of Britain’s youth, as they prepare and play a key role in the debate. The film will give an insight on what matters to the young people who take part and how they develop personally on their journey to the Lords.

ENDS

To arrange a photo or for more information contact Julia Ravenscroft, Press Officer at Refugee Action, on 0161 233 1956 or 07771 748 159. For further information on Shine Week and details of the events taking place, please visit www.shineweek.co.uk.

To arrange an interview or for other media enquiries, please contact The Red Consultancy:
Cara McCarthy 0207 025 6594 07834 766264
James Goldstone 0207 025 6466
Or email talentteam@redconsultancy.com

Notes to Editors:

Shine was created by The Talent and Enterprise Taskforce, based at the Department for Children, Schools and Families. It is delivered by Creativity, Culture and Education.
Shine Week will take place across England from July 6-10 2009
Shine is the first national talent festival celebrating all talents in all young people. Events during Shine week will take place in schools, communities and organisations working with young people across England
Shine is a special celebration of what already happens all year in schools and youth organisations, it aims to focus national attention on all that is best in young people and celebrate all the talents of every student
Young people are being encouraged to sign-up to take part in the Shine festival via the Shine website (www.shineweek.co.uk)
OPEN weekend on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 July is the culmination of Shine Week. OPEN weekend is part of Aiming High for Young People, with a specific purpose of focusing on weekend provision – especially on Friday and Saturday nights, when young people and communities feel activities and facilities are most wanted and needed.
Shine’s delivery partners include The Media Trust, The National Youth Agency, UK Youth Parliament, the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services, UK Youth, The Prince’s Trust, TwoFour Communications and Haymarket Media Group.

About The Bridge:

The Bridge is an innovative and interactive new youth politics/current affairs project (Film based) that gives young people an opportunity to voice their opinions and possible solutions about concerning issues.
The project’s objective is to mobilise, educate and inspire young people to take action in their communities and the wider world, and provide an interactive platform to create new ways of encouraging young people to participate in Politics.
When the project was completed all of the 20 members registered to vote, and 8 of the 20 voted in the GLA Mayoral elections.

The young people:

The young people attending come from youth organisations; Refugee Action’s Get Connected Project, The Bridge, UK Youth, National Council for Voluntary Youth Services, Envision, Nottingham YMCA, National Youth Agency, National Youth Volunteering Programme.

Refugee Action:

Refugee Action is an independent, national charity working to enable refugees to build new lives in the UK. We provide practical advice and assistance for newly arrived asylum seekers and support their settlement through community development work. As one of the country’s leading agencies in the field, Refugee Action has 27 years’ experience in pioneering innovative work in partnership with refugees and advised more than 40,000 asylum seekers and refugees last year.

About 11 MILLION:

11 MILLION is led by the Children’s Commissioner for England and supports the 11 million children and young people in England to have their voices heard. For more information about 11 MILLION, please go to www.11MILLION.org.uk