A day in the life of local children

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Photo exhibition @ Irish Centre

Photographs showing a day in the life of Hammersmith & Fulham children and young people will be displayed at the Irish Centre, in Hammersmith, next Thursday (16 December) at a party to celebrate the launch of a new Children’s Fund website.

Ten Hammersmith & Fulham schoolchildren, aged seven to 13, were given digital cameras to capture a series of images from a single day in their lives on 1 October. They took photos of friends and family, the London Eye from the window of a tube train, the London Dungeon and other scenes which caught their imagination.

They were joined by about 140 children and young people from 15 other London boroughs in the ViewPoints children’s photo project – images from which went on show at City Hall, the Greater London Authority headquarters, last month (20 – 26 November). A professional photographer gave tips on camera use and safety to the children and young people during the project and entries to the City Hall exhibition were judged by a panel, including a photographer from the renowned Magnum agency and other young people. One of the Hammersmith & Fulham children, Sana Sanai, 12, won a digital camera for her photo and ten of the Hammersmith & Fulham children’s photos were included in the City Hall exhibition.

Children and young people are being invited to see 30 photos from the ViewPoints photo project between 4.30 and 6.30pm on 16 December at the Irish Centre, in Blacks Road, Hammersmith, at a party to celebrate the launch of a new children’s interactive website. Andrew Christie, director of the Hammersmith & Fulham Children’s Trust, will present a digital camera to another one of the children who took part in the ViewPoints project at about 5pm.

Children and young people will also demonstrate their website and talk about some of the photos they took, which appear on the site. The website is colourful, fun and informative and features interactive games, views and reviews produced by members of the Children’s Voice group – a local forum for five to 13-year-olds.

The photo project, interactive website and Children’s Voice initiatives are all supported by the Hammersmith & Fulham Children’s Fund, part of a national programme to develop services for five to 13-year-olds who need extra help to achieve their potential. The Children’s Fund is run locally by the council and other partners, including voluntary organisations.

Cllr Reg McLaughlin, deputy for social inclusion, said: “Over the last two years the Children’s Fund has supported a number of projects that have made a real difference to vulnerable children and young people in the borough. These include the Young Carers Group, which offers support and activities for young people with caring responsibilities; the Lyric Theatre arts programme, which includes a Saturday drama club; and the council’s youth response team which works with young people to stop them taking part in anti-social behaviour.” More…
Cllr McLaughlin continued: “The Children’s Fund photographic project, exhibition and interactive website have given children and young people the chance to express themselves through photography and the internet and show others what they are capable of achieving.”

December 12, 2004