Children and young people in the city are being encouraged to cast their vote in the election to decide the next Leeds Children’s Mayor.

The programme is now in its eighteenth year and Leeds was one of the first cities in the UK to elect a young mayor. It is a unique opportunity for the city’s youngsters to learn about democracy and voting whilst enabling and encouraging them to be more community-minded by considering the kind of things that would make improvements in their schools and local areas.

In May, primary schools across the city were asked to submit candidates from Year 5. Despite the complications and issues surrounding coronavirus, the Leeds Children’s Mayor Team received 49 entries. Children were asked to write a short manifesto detailing what they would do as Children’s Mayor to make Leeds an, even more, child-friendly city for other children and young people.

From the entries, a shortlist of 12 finalists was decided upon by a judging panel of children and young people, which included local members of youth parliament and youth councillors as well as the current Leeds Children’s Mayor, Wania Ahmed.

Children and young people (aged 18 or under) and now being encouraged to visit https://bit.ly/VoteLCM to cast their votes. The newly elected Children’s Mayor is set to be announced by the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor Eileen Taylor at a civic reception event on 21st October. Voting closes at 12pm on Friday 16th October.

The 12 finalists for this year are:

Agatha Brundle

School
Bardsey Primary School

Manifesto idea
Stop plastic pollution and climate change from harming our planet

Samuel Hill

School
Carr Manor Community School

Manifesto idea
‘Be Yourself, Love yourself, Respect all others’ – building bonds between people and communities.

Sophie Sutton

School
Churwell Primary School

Manifesto idea
A pen pal network between schools in Leeds, helping children learn about different cultures.

Joshua Smith

School
Cookridge Holy Trinity C of E Primary School

Manifesto idea
‘Bee Kind’ – an idea to spread positivity and kindness in difficult and uncertain times.

Grace Langdale

School
Great Preston C of E Primary School

Manifesto idea
Giving every child the opportunity to grow their own fruit, vegetables and herbs at school

Honor Priestley

School
Holy Name Catholic Voluntary Academy

Manifesto idea
Autism Action: Inform and educate young people in Leeds about autism to help them become more understanding towards Autistic children.

Laila Gibson

School
Ireland Wood Primary School

Manifesto idea
A mental health project to Inform and support young children of Leeds to make them aware of their wellbeing

Rosie Metchkarova-Taylor

School
Little London Community Primary School

Manifesto idea
Fun and free art – children working together as a team to create a masterpiece from upcycled household materials.

Sophie Powley

School
Meanwood C of E Primary School

Manifesto idea
Reducing pollution by encouraging children to walk to school or ‘Park & Stride’ and then to measure schools progress

Olivia Williams

School
Sharp Lane Primary School

Manifesto idea
Christmas Toy banks to ensure that all children get a present at Christmas

Isla-Rae Norval

School
St Chads Primary School

Manifesto idea
To provide regular Dental Health Education to children with my SMILE FOR LIFE programme.

Lexie Dickinson

School
Whinmoor St Pauls Primary School

Manifesto idea
To encourage children to eat healthy and keep fit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor Eileen Taylor said:

“I’m overwhelmed and thrilled by the number of children and schools who have once again taken part in this fantastic programme. They are an inspiration, not only to their peers and other children, but to me, and to anyone working to help make Leeds the best city to live in. The quality of the manifestos this year is exceptional and I am looking forward to the finals night in October to find out who will be our next Children’s Mayor – and best of luck to all our finalists”

Councillor Fiona Venner, executive member for children and families, said:

“One of our greatest ambitions is to make Leeds a more child-friendly city and helping our children and young people to become active citizens with a real voice and influence is a key part of this. This year the manifestos are written on a wide range of issues including autism awareness, road safety, community cohesion and dental hygiene. The children’s mayor project shines a light on how kind, thoughtful and community-minded children in the city are and I can’t wait until the finals night to meet the winner”.

To follow the progress of the Children’s Mayor on Twitter, please see @LSChildrenMayor