Caption: Charlotte Annakin, Mayor for a Day 2009
The winner of this year’s Mayor for a day competition, Charlotte Annakin, will present her manifesto to 99 councillors at this week's meeting of Leeds council.
Sixteen year old Charlotte, of Brigshaw High School, was declared the winner of this year’s competition after gaining huge support for her ideas about what could be done to improve access for the city's wheelchair users. Her manifesto proved most popular out of entries from seven secondary schools across the city.
Mayor for a day is an annual competition organised as part of Local Democracy Week, which is a national initiative to encourage young people to get more involved in local government to understand what it does and how it affects their lives.
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Date and time: Wednesday, 20 January 2008, 1pmVenue: Council Chamber, Leeds Civic Hall
Event: Mini Mayor for a day, Charlotte Annakin, presents her manifesto to 99
councillors at a full council meeting.
Please contact Claire Macklam on 0113 395 1578 or email claire.macklam@leeds.gov.uk to arrange attendance.
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Councillor Richard Brett, joint leader and executive member with responsibility for democratic services said:
“This competition is a great way to encourage young people to take an interest in local government and come up with some great ideas of their own for the future of the city.
“We are delighted to give Charlotte the opportunity to share her manifesto at the full council meeting this week. Her ideas will then be taken forward to our executive board, and will be responded to accordingly.”
The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor Judith Elliott said:
“This is a great opportunity for Charlotte to put forward her ideas, and for leaders in the city to find out how young people think and what their priorities are. We’re always really interested in what youngsters have got to say – their views are just as important as the adults.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
As part of her prize, Charlotte accompanied the Lord Mayor to the switch-on of the Leeds Lights last November, where she had the opportunity to mingle with stars such as Pixie Lott and Lorraine Kelly.
The slogan for Charlotte’s manifesto is ‘You don’t have to spend a fortune to make a difference’.
Campaign summary:
1. Give a voice to people with disabilities and empower them to make changes by listening and acting.
2. Create a wheelchair experience on Briggate so that everyone can understand the problems faced by wheelchair users.
3. Improve access to shops and public buildings with ramps, extra spaces around fixed seating and remote controlled access to parking spaces.
For media enquiries, please contact;
Claire Macklam, Leeds City Council press office (0113) 395 1578
Email: claire.macklam@leeds.gov.uk
