ReachOut Blog: ReachOut welcomes local MP

This week at the ReachOut Club in Cayley Primary School we were lucky enough to be joined by the Labour MP of the Bethnal Green and Bow area, Rushanara Ali. Rushanara was the first woman of Bangladeshi origin to have been elected to the House of Commons, as well as one of the first female Muslim MPs.

Rushanara Ali gets involved with mentoring.

During the session we did a drama exercise, with the girls acting like they were at an award ceremony. They first worked with their mentors to write an acceptance speech detailing: what they had won the award for; what hurdles they faced along the way in striving to get the award; and, who they would like to thank for helping them along the way.

After this the girls dressed up in scarfs, necklaces, and other jewellery myself and the mentors had brought - after all, this was a glamorous occasion! The girls then took turns in performing their speeches. The other girls displayed great fairness in listening to each other, and self-control in waiting for their turn - just some of the character values we promote at the ReachOut Club.

Eventual winner Sophie performs her speech.

We elected Rushanara to be the judge of which award acceptance speech was the best. In the end, though all of the speeches were very well-read and touching (with some girls thanking their mentors for their help and support), we had two winners. These winners gleefully raised the trophy to an eruption of applause from the rest of the girls.

Question time!

Rushanara then went on to talk to the group about her role as an MP, joking she would make it so school hours were longer if they weren’t nice to her! She explained her role was to care for the community and make changes to UK law when it is needed. Her speech was very inspiring, and when at the end she asked the girls who wanted to be an MP, or minister, or the Prime Minister in the future, many of them raised their hands. At the end of the session she was even asked for her autograph by the girls! A huge thanks to Rushanara Ali for visiting ReachOut and having a positive influence on the girls.

After the project Rushanara Ali said "I was incredibly impressed by the way the young people were responding to the mentors. ReachOut is a brilliant charity that helps build confidence, presentation skills, writing skills and more. I was also impressed by the speeches the young people gave and look forward to welcoming some of them in the Houses of Parliament as future MPs or perhaps even Prime Minister!"

Jess and her mentee Anika.

Cayley Headteacher, Lissa Samuel popped in and was surprised and pleased to see all the girls participating “I was amazed to see one of the least confident girls in the group stand up and give her presentation; she would never have done that before taking part in the ReachOut project.”

Well done Cayley ReachOut Club mentors!

By Jessica Rowbotham

Cayley ReachOut Club Project Leader