Mayoral Accountability Assembly – Thursday 29th November 2018

18 members of the Young Citizen Action Group (YCAG) from Riverside School went on a trip to St George’s Cathedral in central London yesterday to hear from Mayor of London Sadiq Khan on how he is delivering on promises made to London Citizens member organisations prior to his election in 2016.

The students heard powerful and heartfelt stories from people from across London on how the housing crises is affecting Londoners ability to afford to live in the areas they know and love. They heard from parents of children killed by the epidemic of youth violence in the capital. They also heard from other young people who have been personally affected by the governments ‘hostile environment’ policy which has led to young people either being detained in immigration detention centres or unable to afford the cost of becoming a British Citizen.

As well as reflecting on the challenges Londonders are still facing today the event was also an important opportunity to reflect on the promises the Mayor has already delivered upon including the introduction of Community Land Trusts across the city to ensure truly affordable housing, commitments to seek at least 50% of new housing to be truly affordable, among many many others.

YCAG members reflected that they were struck by the confidence of the young people speaking and told stories afterwards of their personal connections to many of the issues mentioned on the day, particularly the impact of the spiralling cost of housing, the threat of youth violence and the challenges that young people from different ethnic and religious backgrounds face in London. Having spoken in front of their classes and their entire year groups as part of their recent listening campaign within their school the YCAG are now looking ahead to the upcoming Thames Ward Inclusive Growth Summit on 31st January where they will look to play a major leadership role!