Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust

To find out more about Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust please go to: www.stephenlawrence.org.uk

Or write to: The Stephen Lawrence Centre, 39 Brookmill Road, London SE8 4HU

Or call: 0208 100 2800

I’m proud to support the BBC Lifeline Appeal on behalf of The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust. This admirable initiative is all about giving young disadvantaged people the choices, experiences, self-confidence and qualifications to realise their ambitions and fully realise their place in the world.

The charity not only provides exceptional support and opportunities to individuals who aspire to be architects but now has widened its objectives to support everyone who wants to achieve in the professional world. So far the Trust has reached an extraordinary 1,500 people. But it needs to do more.

That need is partly explained by the fact that many of the more traditional sources of support, like Business Link, have been cut or are inadequate. Add to that the statistic that 80% of Key Stage 3 and 4 teachers say they don’t have enough knowledge to provide careers advice. On top of which national and international research confirms that young unemployed people from marginalised communities need help into the labour market.

Donations to the Lifeline Appeal will help the team to support more and more young people to transform their lives. 

I strongly believe that everyone, with the right support, can achieve their true potential.

The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust was set up in 1998 to provide support and bursaries to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who wanted to become architects. This was because Stephen's ambition was to become an architect.

The Trust has worked tirelessly with young people to overcome the primarily financial barriers they face and has provided bursaries to over 100 students who would not otherwise have been able to study architecture at university. Today, the Trust uses its expertise to provide an even more tailored bursary programme, Building Futures, which dismantles those barriers even more as it includes access to affordable housing and work-experience with leading architectural firms, through partnerships with leading Housing associations and Architecture practices.

The Trusts’ aspirations have grown exponentially, simply because Britain has around a million young people who are not in education, employment or training. Unemployment affects nearly 25% of young people in London and among young disadvantaged, minority people; the unemployment rate is more than double than for white young people.

In 2013 the Office for National Statistics reported that “youth unemployment is at historically high levels”. The very real barriers faced by disadvantaged young people can include a lack of finances, qualifications, aspirations, experience, confidence or self-esteem.

The Trust has therefore expanded their horizons to include ambitious ‘Access to Professions’ schemes and programmes enabling young people to challenge the confines of ‘Elitist Britain’ in order to realistically strive to join professions such as architecture, law, media, central government and journalism. To date, SLCT has reached 1,500+ people attending workshops at the iconic Stephen Lawrence Centre, providing events, courses and programs to help them to aim high and overcome barriers to employment. 

The Trust has always been ambitious to create big changes and will always continue to campaign for fairness and justice, ensuring the lessons from Stephen's murder are acted upon. The history of the Trust, it’s present and indeed its future clearly illustrates its indelible mark on society evidenced by the impact on the criminal justice and social policy frameworks, systems and laws.

The work of Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust is 100% reliant on donations. Much has been achieved, but more still needs to be done. Your support, however small, will help the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust continue its work, both by challenging the police, Government and society to examine themselves, ask and answer difficult questions and by securing Stephens legacy by nurturing the talent of our society’s young people through its Building Futures and Access to Professions programs helping them achieve their full potential.

For more information, go to their website here or follow on Facebook or Twitter.

Just like Stephen Lawrence, Lisa Basu had a clear idea of what she wanted to do with her life from a young age.

Lisa said, ‘I was really fascinated by buildings in London that I really admired. I was adamant that I wanted to become an architect.’

But given her disadvantaged background, Lisa’s dream wasn’t going to be easy to realise.

Lisa said, ‘My family, they were really discouraging of the fact that I would have to go on a course that was 7 years and I would have to accumulate however much debt to finish it because they were not in a position to actually pay for me or help me.’

Lisa was determined to pursue her dream, and worked hard to secure a place at university. But the particular expense of studying architecture began to take its toll.

Lisa said, ‘I really struggled financially to support myself through university. I actually was in the situation where I was couldn’t afford materials for my models and was using pizza boxes. I was actually concentrating on the amount of debt that I actually had and worrying about that. It was tough and there was moments when I thought that I needed to walk away. I found it very frustrating because I knew it would be something that I would regret for the rest of my life if I didn’t finish the course.’

Lisa still had another 4 years of study before qualifying. Without anyone to support her she didn’t know how she could afford to continue. Fortunately, Lisa heard about the Trust and applied for a bursary to support the cost of study.

Lisa said, ‘When I first received the bursary award I was actually quite in shock, I was just thinking I can make that model now that I’ve always wanted to make and spend the money on it and pay my rent and I could actually be a qualified architect. That money helped me complete the course.’

Lisa now supports herself and works in a big London architectural practice. And she is one of many who the Trust have helped in to the profession, overcoming the barriers of their background.

Lisa said, ‘It’s really vital we have a diverse workforce and the Trust symbolises hope for a lot of people that want to do architecture as a profession.’

None of us chooses where we are born and raised, but it can have such an influence on our chances in life. As North Londoner Eniola Asaolu knows well.

Eniola said, ‘The neighbourhood, it wasn’t great, there was a lot of violence and one didn’t have much choice, should I say? It was either joining a gang or being a victim of some sort of gang related activity. There was a huge limitation of how far you could see ahead. And I was like, surely there is a way out of this, you don’t have to succumb to it.’

Eniola’s big ambition was to become a corporate lawyer. He studied hard, did well in exams, and got a place to study law at university. But the profession still seemed almost impossibly out of reach.

But one of Eniola’s tutors noticed his talent and put him forward for a special Scholarship scheme that the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust has set up with top City Law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. He beat hundreds of applicants for a coveted place.

Eniola said, ‘It felt like this was it, like. This is, I finally like, the dream is no longer a dream. I can really get started now and build my career.’

As well as financial support, the scholarship involves valuable placements at one of the best law firms during university study breaks. And scholarship students are also supported in adapting to what can feel like an intimidating new world. The network he builds during the scholarship will support Eniola throughout the rest of his law degree and beyond.

Eniola said, ‘It’s very exciting working at a higher level, you know. There’s a huge sense of value because your work is so important and it has such an impact. The trust makes dreams reality really because external barriers, they’re non-existent now. In fact now instead of external barriers, I have external doors. So it is pretty much down to me to put in the work. My perspective on the world has changed. it’s a life changing thing, honestly. It is.’