21 September 2012 was Peace Day throughout the world, an integral part of the Peace One Day project launched by British filmmaker Jeremy Gilley in 1999 with UN backing. The aims of Peace Day for are for individuals to become part of wide-scale community action, as well providing a window of opportunity for aid organisations to carry out life-saving work in areas of conflict.
St Swithun’s pupils, Delphine Legat and Anna Melleney, both 15, were responsible for raising awareness of this initiative to pupils and staff at the school by organising a series of assemblies leading up to Peace Day on the issues of peace in areas of conflict. On Peace Day itself, staff at the Winchester school included the theme of peace in lessons throughout the day.
Delphine was delighted with the response by pupils and staff alike “We wanted to raise awareness of why a day of ceasefire and truce in areas of conflict throughout the world is important. We also wanted the pupils at St Swithun’s to have greater insight into how we can all become peacemakers, in whatever form that takes within our own communities”.