More than 5,000 children and young people will have a say in the running of over 400 organisations across England for 11 MILLION Takeover Day on Friday November 23.
Two 17-year-olds from London, Arran Sinclair and Ginisha Sadasivan will be stepping into the shoes of England’s Children’s Commissioner, Sir Al Aynsley-Green. They will accompany Sir Al on visits to projects taking part in 11 MILLION Takeover Day.
The two young people are from the young people’s journalism charity Headliners and are producing a news report about their experiences of the day, which will be available for publication in the mainstream media (see Editors notes).
11 MILLION Takeover Day promises to be a huge event with a vast range of organisations signed up to take part, including Manchester United, BSkyB, Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, and dozens of police forces, fire and rescue services and local authorities.
11 MILLION Takeover Day, which is overseen by 11 MILLION, the office led by the Children’s Commissioner for England, Sir Al Aynsley-Green, is an opportunity for organisations and individuals to demonstrate their commitment to children and young people by listening to them, taking on board their views and then acting on their recommendations so that they shape their future work.
The Children’s Commissioner for England, Sir Al Aynsley-Green, said: “There‘s so much demonisation of children and young people in our society but 11 MILLION Takeover Day is a fantastic opportunity for their talents to be recognised and celebrated.
Arran, 17, from east London, one of the young people taking over from Sir Al, said: “I’m really looking forward to seeing what it’s like to do a very important person’s job and also how I can re-mix it to make it even better for the future.”
Ginisha, 17, from north-west London, who will also be accompanying Sir Al, added: “I want to see how people in power deal with issues affecting young people and how we can help them to improve our lives.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
- Headliners is a journalism programme for young people aged eight to 19. For more information on Headliners, go to www.headliners.org or call Tricia Bullen on 020 7833 2577
- 11 MILLION, formerly the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, supports the 11 million children and young people in England to have their voices heard. The Children’s Commissioner for England was established under The Children Act 2004 to be the independent voice of children and young people and to champion their interests and bring their concerns and views to the national arena. For more information go to www.11MILLION.org.uk
- 11 MILLION Takeover Day will be on Friday 23 November 2007 and is part of the celebrations of the 18th birthday of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which was “born” on November 20 1989.
