Poet and Activist Yumna Hussen Visits Alleyn's

In a whole-school assembly to start this half term, we were excited to welcome Yumna Hussen to Alleyn’s to address our pupils. She delivered an inspirational address to both staff and students, encouraging us all to “find the right cause and find the right people” – something she has clearly done in her impressive range of experiences so far. Aged only 17, she is a Youth MP for Birmingham, a published author, a spoken-word poet and a campaigner for climate education and food sustainability. She spoke about the need for young people to discover their passions and to take action, to have a positive impact whilst also acknowledging the challenges that they might face. "What is it about a cause that you want to speak about and what are the strengths you can bring to that?" she asked.

Yumna, who previously spoke about the future of education and the workplace as part of a panel with Mrs Lunnon, also visited Alleyn’s Junior School, where she asked Year 6 students what changes they would like to see in the world around them and gave inspiring advice about how they could start to bring about those changes. They were excited to learn about her work for Bite Back 2030, an organisation promoting food security in the UK and campaigning for government action on junk food and childhood obesity.

Finally, in a Q&A session attended by students from across the senior school, Yumna answered a diverse range of questions from staff and students about how she had become a Youth MP, how students from minority backgrounds could use their voices to make meaningful change in their communities, and what she hoped to go on to do in later life.

Assistant Head Aidan Sproat-Clements, who coordinated the visit, said, “'Inspirational’ barely begins to describe Yumna’s outstanding character and impact. A true force of nature, I know that she has encouraged many of our students to think about how they can best use their talents to bring about change in the world around them.”