With the May local elections fast approaching, and a deadline for registration on 13th March, a group of students on a unique Citizenship programme at the University of East London (UEL) have been out and about in Tower Hamlets encouraging young people to register to vote.
On Thursday 2nd March, the students spent the day at Tower Hamlets College in Poplar, talking to college students about local democracy and the importance of voting, as part of the 'Make Your Voice Heard' campaign, run in partnership with the Electoral Services office at the Town Hall.
In the afternoon, the UEL students, who study Citizenship as part of their Politics and Sociology degrees, led a series of sessions at Tower Hamlets College focusing on local democracy. They facilitated workshops about the importance of voting and having your say.
Asked 'If you had £5,000 to spend on making your local neighbourhood better, what would you spend it on?', the majority of the young people voted for a summer youth club scheme; second favourite was a decent, accessible football pitch in Poplar.
Next, the UEL students posed the question: 'What qualities make for a good politician?' The young people thought honesty was the most important, followed by integrity, the ability to communicate, open mindedness, and to deliver on your promises.
Layla Bates, Outreach and Campaign Co-ordinator for Tower Hamlets Council's Electoral Services office said "It was great to have the opportunity to work with the UEL students. As a group, we reached lots of young people at the college through talking with them about the importance of registering to vote by March 13th so that they can vote in the local elections in May.”
Judith Burnett and Erika Calvo lead the innovative Citizenship programme at UEL, which has attracted national recognition and funding.
Dr Burnett said: "This was a perfect opportunity for our students to find out what young people see as being the priorities in our local communities, and what they want to get out of life. It was great to see our students take a leadership role in classroom situations.
“This is great experience, and will certainly give them something to talk about when they go for job interviews in the future!"
The School of Social Sciences, Media and Cultural Studies at UEL is highly rated for both research and teaching, and UEL is rated among the leading universities in the UK for research in communications, media and cultural studies, and sociology, and one of the leading centres for teaching in anthropology and politics.
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