On Friday 7 March 2014, a group of thirty Year 9 students attended WE Day, a charity event held at Wembley Arena. The event was organised to raise awareness of the ‘Free the Children’ charity, which works domestically and internationally to enable young people to be agents of change.

Guests included environmental icon and former US Vice-President Al Gore. He spoke to the students about the importance of standing up for what they believe in, a message that was met with thunderous applause from the audience. Also in attendance were Sir Richard Branson and Prince Harry, who both talked openly about how important it is to help one another. There was also musical accompaniment from a variety of famous recording artists, including Ellie Goulding, The Tenors, Birdy and Dizzee Rascal.

One of the most incredible moments of the day was the introduction of Malala Yousafzai, international education activist and co-founder of the Malala Fund, which empowers girls to speak out and demand change. She told the crowd, “The powerful weapon you have is your voice,” an inspirational message which gave the students plenty to contemplate.

The entire day was filled with great passion and tremendous energy, with Isleworth & Syon’s students having a fantastic day. Pavan Vara (9C) said, “The many inspirational and thought-provoking speeches and speakers helped give us a better perspective of the world.”

In the following weeks, students began to gather of their own accord on Monday lunchtimes to discuss potential charity events for the issues they had heard about at Wembley. Well done to all those who went along and for demonstrating such enthusiasm.

 

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