#iwill: Becoming Young Mayor of Liverpool
Since participating in the LFC Foundation's #iwill campaign, Lucia Akwanya, a pupil at Whitefield Primary School, has become very passionate about social action and making a positive difference in her local community.
Lucia has taken a leading role within LFC Foundation #iwill classroom activities, along with a number of social action projects outside of school, with a focus on reducing pollution, drug and alcohol awareness and social isolation amongst the elderly.
The 10 year old's dedication to helping others and making a difference in her local area led to her first being elected on to her school council, before she was then nominated by the deputy head at her school and selected to take up the role of Young Mayor of Liverpool.
Through participating in social action, the programme has helped her to realise the importance of young people speaking up about issues that they are concerned about and how ambitions and goals can be achieved through hard work and determination.
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Speaking about how the #iwill programme has helped her boost her confidence, Lucia said: "Taking part in the #iwill campaign has been really valuable as it’s helped me to know that everyone has a voice, even children and the elderly.
"It’s very, very important for young people to have a voice because young people have a different perspective on things, and finding a new perspective helps to find different and new ideas.
“I’ve really enjoyed having the freedom to choose which social action project I’ve been able to get involved in and what we do with it.
"I’ve enjoyed meeting the elderly visitors and getting their perspective on life and their different points of view. They’ve also shared stories that we’ll never witness because our lives are so different to how theirs have been, which is very interesting.”
Looking to the future, Lucia hopes that her passion for social action will help her fulfill her ambition of becoming a teacher, so she can help future generations and continue making a positive difference.
Supported by over 1,000 organisations from across the UK, the #iwill campaign wants to make participation in social action, such as volunteering, fundraising, mentoring and campaigning, the norm for young people under 20. Currently four in 10 young people participate in meaningful social action.
The LFC Foundation #iwill programme works to inspire children and young people to make positive contributions to their local communities, the environment and society as a whole by empowering young people to identify issues and causes that they feel passionately about.
To find out more about Lucia’s story and the work the LFC Foundation does with the #iwill campaign, click here.