Damilola Taylor’s dad wants to give hope to young people on 20th anniversary of son’s death

Damilola Taylor’s dad is sending out a positive message on the 20th anniversary of his son’s death.

Richard Taylor is determined not to highlight how hard it has been for him to continue to talk about his son’s death.

Instead, he has spent the intervening two decades campaigning against youth crime – so that more families are not devastated the way his was in 2000.

The 72-year-old is the spearhead of the Hope Collective – young people who are showing the way to their peers in how to lead productive lives.

And this year the Day of Hope, on December 7 – what would have been Dami’s 31st birthday – to celebrate their achievement and the person he might have become. 

Richard, made an OBE in 2016, said: “The 20 years passed so quickly and yet it still seems like yesterday. 

“Every anniversary brings back the painful memories. 

“The phone rings and it is another journalist wanting me to relive the anguish because their readers need to know all the details. Again. 

“It has taken its toll!

“There have been many happier highlights though, in these last two decades. 

“So many wonderful young people the Damilola Taylor Trust has worked with.

“The 20th anniversary legacy campaign launched this year to celebrate the kind of young person Damilola was turning into has brought me great joy. 

“So many charities, corporate organisations and statutory authorities have come together to create ‘The Hope Collective’ and despite the setbacks that Covid has caused, the momentum just kept building through the partnership work.

“Now the young people who are organising the project – including members of the Damilola Taylor Trust youth advisory board – will launch the Day of Hope on December 7. 

“It is all about youth activism – a day when the whole youth sector comes together to show the importance of society collaborating to give young people hope that they can achieve their dreams. 

“It is going to become an annual event – every year on December 7. My Damilola sadly did not get to realise his own dream to become a doctor but now his legacy is truly one of hope!”

Campaign director Gary Trowsdale said: “One of the most impressive things about the Hope Collective is that it is a truly eclectic snapshot of society working in tandem for the common good. A public health approach in its most simple form. Celebrating young people and working in partnership to give them the support and tools to succeed.

“The exciting news is that the Hope Collective is going to become a structured cooperative and work together to develop the Day of Hope as an annual event.

One of our blog contributors on the website, Superintendent Stan Gilmour, who heads up Thames Valley VRU has a saying ‘We need to start working more together, together and not together, apart’.

“In terms of safeguarding vulnerable young people and giving them the best opportunity in life, there is a hell of a lot of learning to be had in this simple quirky saying.”