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Alan Senitt’s legacy lives on as a new generation of Upstanders graduates
Students from ten London, Essex and Hertfordshire schools celebrated for projects tackling homelessness, violence against women and religious hatred
More than 100 teenagers were celebrated for their commitment to interfaith dialogue and social action at the Alan Senitt Upstanders Leadership Programme graduation on Tuesday 15 September – in the year marking two decades since the young Jewish leader’s tragic death.
On 9 July 2006, Alan Senitt was murdered in Washington DC while defending a friend. The Alan Senitt Memorial Trust was founded in his memory, and in 2007/08 launched its leadership programme to champion leadership, building bridges between people and standing up for others.
The initiative, delivered on the Trust’s behalf by Maccabi GB and facilitated by Streetwise and Stand Up! Education Against Discrimination, has supported more than 2,000 young people to date.
This year’s cohort came from Copthall School, Guru Nanak Sikh Academy, Hendon School, Immanuel College, JCoSS, JFS, King Solomon High School, Nower Hill High School, Watford Grammar School for Boys and Yavneh College.
Throughout the year, students worked in mixed-school groups at seminars hosted across the participating schools, learning about project planning, informal education, group dynamics and giving and receiving feedback. They then planned and delivered a social action project in their own communities.
Yavneh College students ran a golf day with Friendship Circle for people with learning disabilities whilst other students donated nearly 200 care packages to people facing homelessness and period poverty, published an eBook telling the stories of 114 women hidden from history, made a short documentary on religious hate crime and created a purple handprint mural to raise awareness of violence against women and girls.
Chair of the trust, Emma Senitt said: “Twenty years after losing Alan, it is incredibly special to have built a legacy that continues through the upstanders programme. I would have never imagined standing at the 19th Graduation. Seeing another group of young people carrying Alan’s values of leadership, kindness, community and standing up for others makes us so proud. We now want to make sure the programme can continue for many more years and we hope that the community and our supporters with help raise funds to make it possible.”
Abi Wander, head of education at Maccabi GB, added: “It is a privilege for all of us who deliver this programme to spend our year with young people who are willing to do just that. We firmly believe our graduates will carry Alan’s legacy into the future.”
Guests were welcomed by Jonathan Prevezer, chair of Maccabi GB, and the evening included a message from Matt Lucas, patron of The Alan Senitt Memorial Trust.
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