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And I would walk 500 miles LORRAINE LANGHAM, chief executive of education charity Future First, tells us that despite her charity being about adults inspiring pupils, she was inspired to walk from parliament to Glasgow by someone who is school-aged
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ne thing I’ve learnt from running a charity focused on connecting role models with state school pupils is that those who connect with us come in many and varied forms. When we think of role models it’s easy to assume we mean those who inspire, motivate or guide a younger generation to follow in their footsteps - the whole idea of ‘looking up to someone’ tends to paint this sort of picture – and, of course, Future First does exactly that – creating and nurturing alumni networks for state school students so that, whatever their start in life, there need be no limits on their futures. But the benefit of role models shouldn’t end when we ‘grow up’ – whatever that means! While role models can motivate younger people to strive for a better future, and guide them through the daunting labyrinth of life, young
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people can also be role models for older generations too. It was the inspiration of just such a young role model that led me to take a break as chief executive of Future First and march 500 miles from parliament to Glasgow ahead of the meeting of world leaders at COP26. Just as legions of young people have been inspired by the magnificent Greta Thunberg to take action against climate change, so was I. Here was a young person who, in 2018 aged just 15, started her now famous protest outside the Swedish parliament. Alone, she held a sign saying ‘School Strike for Climate’ in an effort to pressurise her government to meet carbon emissions targets. I’m sure many people on their way to work must have passed her lonely protest and dismissed it with the ‘cynicism of experience’. Yet by the end of that year more than 20,000 students from as far
afield as the UK to Japan had joined her by skipping school to protest. Her influence has continued to grow – and, some argue, it might have been greater still if momentum had not been interrupted by the pandemic. We will never know. WONDERFUL ROLE MODEL Of course, as the CEO of an education charity, I’m not saying young people should skip school - but I am highlighting just how much difference one person can make when the rest of us may feel powerless. Greta is also a wonderful role model for neuro diversity, describing the fact that she has Asperger syndrome as ‘a gift’. For her, being different is a ‘superpower’ and she has used this to good effect. There are many parallels between the work of Future First and climate
