Day of Hope on Damilola Taylor’s birthday

The Day of Hope on December 7 – Damilola Taylor’s birthday – is the culmination of the Hope 2020 campaign.

This memorable day’s events were designed by a Youth Advisory Board, all representatives of the organisations in The Hope Collective.

The Prime Minister has confirmed in a letter to us that December 7 will be an annual national Day of Hope.

That sparked a great sense of excitement among the board as we considered the possibility of the project’s reach.

We set to work, alongside mentors from the Hope Collective’s mentors.

This was not without its challenges. The Covid-19 restrictions meant we were working with people we have not met in person, but entirely via Zoom calls and email.

It was daunting to create an event of this size virtually.

 The bravery required to be vulnerable enough to share creative ideas with people who may think so differently should not be underestimated – especially given the short timescale.

But we shared experiences of overcoming the challenges we faced growing up. We had a common vision for how we wanted life for future generations to look. That strengthened our bond and enabled us to put our nerves aside.

We were excited about the impact the project could have – so we were hardly swayed by the announcement of a second lockdown.

Migrating to a digitised event sparked new challenges. But we took the news in our stride, and the result is an even more impressive line-up.

The final programme will now take place on seven days rather than one. It boasts an array of workshops to equip young people with skills which both educate and inspire.

One is entitled ‘Tackling Child Poverty’, supported by the UK’s top children’s charity Barnado’s chief executive Javed Khan. The final product is an example of young people coming together to create positive change; a Hope story in itself.

-Abba Bako, Member for the Youth Advisory Board 2020