13 lower sixth St Swithun’s students attended the GSF (Global Student Forum) conference in Westminster on 26th June. They were joined at the conference by 700 pupils from 60 schools both nationally and internationally. The focus for this year is ‘Hungry For Justice’, covering issues of world hunger.
The girls had the opportunity to listen to and ask questions of many politicians, development practitioners and campaigners to look at ways to bring about change to world hunger. They engaged in conversation with Stephen O’Brien MP (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development), the Head of Ethical and Sustainable Sourcing at ASDA and a Policy Adviser at Traidcraft to name a few.
Directly after the conference the girls made a stop at Portcullis House to talk to Winchester MP, Steve Brine. They alerted him to their concerns that GSF 2013 funding is being cut and offered some suggestions of actions that the UK government might take to help battle global hunger.
Further information can also be found on Steve Brine’s website at http://www.stevebrine.com/westminster/st-swithuns-pupils-attend-global-student-forum/1462
The girls have now returned to St Swithun’s brimming with ideas about how they might be able to highlight some of the issues covered within their own school and wider reaching communities.