The Estate We're In: Young people from Angell Town visit Parliament to grill MP

Angell Town: One of the estate's groups, called My London, took residents to the Commons
Lucy Young
Joseph Watts26 July 2016
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Young people from a south London estate descended on Parliament to grill their MP on politics, jobs and education.

The group of about 15 from Angell Town in Brixton arrived yesterday to ask how they could campaign for better services and opportunities.

The visit was set up by My London, established by Brixton mum Kamika Nathan to take young people on field trips and broaden their horizons.

Ahead of meeting MP Helen Hayes, Ms Nathan added: “The idea behind My London is that we are just 10 minutes away from Parliament.

“As you come on the bus and you get off at Westminster there’s a lot of wealth that people see around, but why is it then that in Angell Town every day we just see concrete?

“These guys don’t even have a place to meet. I see them in the cold, standing there when it’s freezing.”

She started the group, which has worked with the Standard’s The Estate We’re In programme, when she took her children to the Science Museum several years ago and noticed others on her estate wanted to come.

Angell Town has 4,000 people but few community facilities, with some residents rarely venturing off the estate.

Ms Nathan added: “Sometimes if we don’t talk and try and bridge that gap as well, you just stay there and you won’t get help.

“So that’s why it’s important to come out and make that link.

“This is our London as well. There is no them and us. Our parents have worked hard, we’ve come through. We’re British too. This is ours.”

Before a tour of the Houses of Parliament the group asked Dulwich and West Norwood MP Ms Hayes what she could offer the estate.

Addressing the group the MP said: “I’d never worked in Parliament before last year. You come here and it’s quite an overwhelming building, it’s not like any other regular office.

“One of the things I hope you see is that, while it’s pretty distant from everyday life and people think it’s quite out of touch, all of the big beneficial changes that have been achieved here were passed here because of campaigns that happened outside this place.”

The Estate We’re In scheme aimed to maximise the potential of people living on London’s housing estates.

It began as a pilot backing Angell Town residents and groups trying to transform their surroundings and then asked groups across London to apply for grants to tackle problems on their estates.

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