A student from a secondary school in Bingham has won a competition organised by The Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation.
Kymahni, a Year 7 pupil at Toot Hill School, which is part of the Nova Education Trust, was picked by Project Manager Charlotte King from The Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation.
Winning in the category ‘Hate crime/anti-racism’, Kymahni was awarded a £40 gift card by Youth Outreach Workers Romel Davis and Emily Patterson.
Romel said: “Kymahni won due to his creativity. He covered Stephen’s story in his own words, the poem, including anti-knife crime messaging, graphics, and his own drawing of Stephen. There was a lot of time and effort that went into this entry so he should be extremely proud.
“It is so important for young people and schools to be involved with Stephen Lawrence Day and the work the foundation do all year round because Stephen’s story changed the nation, policing, legislation, law and much more.
“It is so important to talk about the main challenges behind this story within education such as racism, hate crime, knife crime and how institutions such as the police need to improve.”
This year will mark the third year of National Stephen Lawrence Day, a foundation that hopes to inspire a fairer and just society through Stephen’s legacy engendering equality, diversity and inclusion for young people and communities globally.
These reasons are why Kymahni was so passionate about taking part in the competition.
“I was so happy to win and it was very unexpected,” said Kymahni. “I feel very proud. I thought it was important to take part because I wanted the world to be better for when my brothers grow up.
“I also thought it was important to raise awareness about Stephen Lawrence so it doesn’t happen again.”
The Stephen Lawrence Foundation offer resources to schools and leaders are given the tools to implement staff training and parents are offered workshops.
Dale Mordue, Head of Year 7 at Toot Hill School said. “We are exceptionally proud of Kymahni winning this competition. He’s demonstrated his use of initiative and his passion for raising awareness of a topic that’s close to his heart which we always actively encourage.
“Kymahni has proven this year how caring he is about school and the wider community and we hope he continues to show his leadership qualities and levels of kindness.”
Knife crime in Nottinghamshire has reduced year on year for the past three years.
To donate or learn more about the resources that are available visit www.stephenlawrenceday.org.