Inspiring Young People
The Mary Seacole Trust is keen to engage with young people. We want to pass on Mary’s legacy and inspire future generations, and to do that we must ensure our work remains relevant.
We have an active Youth Advisory Committee of seven young people who help us keep up to date with the issues that are important to them. These can range from the impact of Black Lives Matter, to vaccine uptake among teenagers, to mental health issues.
We connect the group with the Link Up Crew at City Hall, a team of young people aged 7-15 who help inform strategy for the London Mayor.
The Young Seacole Ambassadors Initiative
Who is your modern-day Mary Seacole?
Schoolchildren are asked to identify Mary Seacole’s qualities in themselves and others, to develop a greater connection to Mary, and be inspired by her life.
The target age group is primary school (Year 5 and 6) and secondary schools (Year 7 and 8). The first competition winners were invited to a ceremony at the House of Lords in June 2018. The second competition which ran in 2019, was opened up to more schools London-wide and the awards ceremony was held at City Hall in January 2020. The event was staged jointly with the Lynk Up Crew, our City Hall partners.
For the last competition we received over 100 entries including poems, stories, videos and artwork.
You can see a video of the 2020 winners ceremony here.
The 2019 winners
School students in South London received awards from the Mary Seacole Trust after identifying and writing about their own ‘modern day Mary Seacoles’.
Secondary school category
James Cummins, 11, from Carshalton Boys Sports College wrote about his friend, 19-year-old Alex, who has been treated for brain cancer and who helps run the local youth and scouts group.
James wrote: “Alex and his family are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met and even though bad things have happened to Alex he never gives up.”
Highly commended – Tom Edwards, also from Carshalton.
Commended – Aoua N’Diaye, year 8, City Heights Academy, Brixton.
Primary school category
Lexie Kadjo, year 5, Grange Primary School, Southwark. Lexie wrote about her older sister who she describes as: “Brave, kind, resilient”. She says her sister touched her heart by saying “Whenever you need me I’m always here for you, when you’re hurt or not”.
Lexie also highlighted her sister’s help for homeless people and animals which she said reminded her of Mary Seacole.
Highly commended – Olamide Samuel, year 5, Grange Primary School, Southwark
Commended – Rumaysa Zakaria, year 5, Grange Primary School, Southwark
Due to the pandemic, there was no competition in 2021. But we are keen to re-establish the scheme for 2023, to coincide with the 75th anniversary celebrations for the NHS and the Windrush.
We plan to hold a national YSA2022 competition, launching ahead of Black History Month 2022, with an awards ceremony to be held in April 2023.
Watch this space for more details!
Florence Nightingale Museum
Visit the Florence Nightingale Museum in the grounds of St. Thomas’ Hospital in London and meet Mary Seacole to discover more about her exciting life and how she helped soldiers during the Crimean War.
The Mary Seacole Trust partnered with the Florence Nightingale Museum to create a theatre door showcasing Mary Seacole in her British Hotel in Crimea. The door has been used as a backdrop for performances by a story-teller recounting tales of Mary’s travels through many lands.
Talks and Presentations
Trustees are often approached to deliver talks and presentations to schools and will always aim to accept wherever possible. These usually take place during Black History Month (October) and help share Marys’ story with students, teachers and educational staff of all ages. During 2021, our talks reached around 2,000 students.
To find out more about how we can support students to learn about Mary Seacole, please contact education@maryseacoletrust.org.uk.
