"Walking up the marble stairways of Town Hall, I felt somewhat out of place. When you envision a political conference I am quite sure young people do not fill your thoughts" writes Clark Chapman.

     On Thursday 11th May a conference was held to address the issues of cohesion in the city of Peterborough. Representatives of many organisations filed into the main hall and seemed optimistic of the day ahead.
Ruby Dixon, the keynote speaker took to the stand and showed great respect for Peterborough as a credit to the success of cohesion. She seemed very literal and understood that major changes cannot take place overnight. It was refreshing to witness the views she portrayed.

"She thought this was a typical event and gave quite a racist stance throughout the performance."

        The most memorable part of the day for me was watching the Arc Theatre Group giving a performance which encompassed perhaps all the opinions we here about immigration and asylum into the UK.

        The scene is set with a woman, discussing with her work colleagues, how her son was set upon and robbed by supposedly foreign immigrants in Peterborough. She thought this was a typical event and gave quite a racist stance throughout the performance. This argument was balanced well with another colleagues view. There were 4 people in total and they teamed up on the argument in 2 couples.

        They all gave great performances but what I thought was great was the interaction with the audience. Different sections of the audience had to help out each character with developing their arguments even if they were totally opposed to it. Everyone had loads of opinions to share and this meant the debate could carry on until all opinion was exhausted. The debate concluded with one colleague offering to have everyone round his house, including the victim’s mother, to have a chat and a drink with him and his friends who come from various different backgrounds and cultures. Everyone agreed, although the victim’s mother was reluctant.

       The overall message was that incidents which happen in our community should not unfairly be made fodder for racist stances, and a broader view of our diverse cultures which make up our vibrant communities will help us live together in peace. To conclude, a quote from Ruby Dixon, the key speaker of the event, which sums up greatly how we should be striving for “cohesive” communities, “
       After the performance I was speaking to a fellow roving reporter who said he agreed with some of what both sides of the argument put forward.

        While everyone drank there coffee I was on hand to ask the councillors and company representatives about their objectives to involve the youth in a variety of projects. I found Cllr John Peach to be a very pleasant man and his association with Deacons School showed to me that he was a man deeply interested in the welfare of the youth of Peterborough.

“ I want to talk to the youth, get out there and talk to them.”

        Marco Cereste’s views were a breath of fresh air, he did not bore me with some longwinded political answer, he simply said “ I want to talk to the youth, get out there and talk to them.” He also told me of many projects he has personally funded. “ I have sponsored football teams from eight years old to about eighteen.” I felt this man like myself had a genuine interest in seeing more youngsters off the streets and into projects that help develop them as people.

I also managed to catch a word with Youth Champion Cllr Matthew Dalton who showed his deep concerns about the lack of interest in elections by younger people. “The problems as a politician is the lack of interest in elections and we need to make sure that young people are integrated into the democratic process.”
        The hallways soon cleared leaving the Roving reporting team discussing the comments made by different people. We departed to explore the workshops that were taking place, each councillor and representative were handed a number which would determine the workshop they would attend. Each workshop represented a pacific issue concerning Peterborough and its surrounding areas. Rural issues and the Youth Project were two I personally witnessed.

"It really simplified the mentality of discrimination and amusingly mocked its existence."

        The Rural Issues workshop was particularly formal but one moment remains in my thoughts. The speaker mentioned how a meeting was held concerning the youth and rural issues in a Cambridgeshire constituency, it emerged that one hundred and fifty councillors were invited and only seven attended the meeting. This to me was a vindication of The Roving Reporters presence at this conference.

        We then entered the Youth Project workshop which was a great success. The youngsters were placing the councillors and representatives in a situation that expressed the need for cohesion. Each individual was handed a red or a blue card, those with a red card were told to leave the area. Why? For the simple reason they had a different colour card to the others. It really simplified the mentality of discrimination and amusingly mocked its existence.
        Another barrier that this exercise brought down was the realisation that politicians are only human beings. The public persona of a politician is a placid, almost robot like individual but this is a great misinterpretation and the youth workshop highlighted this marvellously. The youngsters truly interacted with all those involved, I feel great steps were made in building relationships between the youth and the political world.
        After the workshops had come to a close the final speech was made and I felt a great sense of understanding swept through all those involved. Finally youngsters were able to engage with politics and genuinely have their voices heard. As I walked down those marble stairways of Town Hall, a feeling of belonging truly warmed my heart.


        I would like to send a special thanks to Peter Rouncefield for his support throughout this project. He is a credit to the young people of Peterborough.