News Article - 03/12/2009
London Assembly
On Wednesday 25 November 2009, students from Sir George Monoux College participated in the Annual London Citizens Assembly at The Barbican, attended by Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, Greg Hands MP, Vince Cable MP, Stephen Timms MP and directors from KPMG, the Corporation of London, Barclays and Price Waterhouse Coopers. Focusing on taking responsibility in the economic crisis, students and community leaders gathered to discuss the impact of the recession and called on political and economic leaders to take responsibility and share the burden that it has placed on the community.
The Students joined over 2000 people from across London including participants from other schools, colleges, community groups, faith groups, universities and trade unions in a fantastic display of active citizenship and local community cohesion in action. London Citizens is the UK's largest and most diverse civil society organisation comprising 140 member communities drawn from 16 London Boroughs. The event featured significant political negotiation and performances and contributions from representatives of the thousands of citizens present.
[Business Students join 2000 people across London]
Aspiring Politician and Business Studies Student, Abbas Hanif took to the stage to present his ideas on the importance of financial literacy in schools and colleges and introduced a pilot scheme which will use the help of Credit Action and moneysavingexpert.com to train talented undergraduates how to manage money better. Abbas said, "The event was fantastic! It was so insightful meeting Mayor Boris Johnson influential CEOs and community leaders to see their support for London communities and the work we're doing. It was a very successful evening and members from all of the political parties agreed to help out and promote the financial literacy scheme which, if successful, will be introduced across the UK by 2011."
[Business Student, Abbas Hanif takes to the stage to the Financial Literacy proposals ]
Elaine Hare, Assistant Principal said "Following months of listening, ideas and debate our students were able to participate and contribute to responding to the financial crisis. Our students were there to show their support for a better London and they did that by putting forward their proposals to help Londoners through this difficult time. It was a celebration of what's possible when diverse communities work together for change."
[Students, Tayyabah Ahmed and Faiza Younis meet Conservative MP Greg Hands ]
