Artwork created by local school children and inspired by the legacy of Stephen Lawrence is now on display at Woolwich Works as schools across Royal Greenwich marked Stephen Lawrence Day.
Monday 22 April marked 31 years since the unprovoked racist murder of Stephen Lawrence. Stephen would have celebrated his 50th birthday this year.
Local schools commemorated Stephen Lawrence Day with a variety of events and activities including planting a rose bush, running awareness workshops, presenting dedicated assemblies, and making an aspiration tree, to name a few.
An exhibition is now open at Woolwich Works to showcase some of art, poetry and writing that local school children created throughout the week.
Stephen’s father, Dr Neville Lawrence, also visited St. Margaret’s Primary School in Plumstead to speak about the importance of Stephen Lawrence Day. We captured some of our school’s activities on video, watch here: royalgreenwich.gov.uk/neville-lawrence-video
During the visit, Dr Neville Lawrence said: “Stephen has touched a lot of lives and made them better. [It’s] my loss, but he’s done what he was sent here for. Stephen’s legacy is the fact that people can look at each other and say, well I’ll never do that to someone’s family again.”
A Council spokesperson said: “It’s so important to share Stephen’s story with the next generation, and to keep his memory alive. Together we can learn from the tragedy of Stephen’s death and use his legacy to motivate ourselves to drive forward the changes we still need in our society.
“We will do our best to honour Stephen’s legacy, and ensure that because of Stephen, everyone in our community has a chance to achieve their ambitions and thrive.”
An event at Woolwich Works on Friday 26 April celebrated the life of Stephen as local school children showcased a mix of poetry, painting, and writing inspired by Stephen’s legacy. Students from St. Ursula’s Convent School performed spoken word and read out ‘letters to their future self’.
The Legacy of Stephen Lawrence exhibition by local school children is on display in the café area at Woolwich Works until 7 May.
