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Baroness Newlove Visits

Politics students at enjoyed a visit from Baroness Helen Newlove as part of the Peers in Schools programme.

Baroness NewlovePolitics students at The Mosslands School in Wallasey enjoyed a visit from Baroness Helen Newlove as part of the Peers in Schools programme.

Baroness Newlove was made a House of Lords peer in July 2010, three years after her husband Garry was murdered by a gang of drunken teenagers outside their family home in Warrington.

Since then she has campaigned vociferously against youth anti-social behaviour, speaking to thousands of young people about the negative effects drink and drugs can have on their own behaviour and on the community around them.

A group of twenty five Sixth Form Mosslands students were given a talk by Baroness Newlove, who discussed her position in the House of Lord, its rules and procedures, and how she is using her position to inspire young people to interact with their local communities. The students were then invited to take part in question and answer session.

Baroness with Mosslands staff and students

Baroness Newlove said: “The Peers in Schools programme has been running for around six years now and I thoroughly agree with its aims and ambitions. We want to reach out to young people across the UK and positively engage with them.

“I enjoy doing these school visits more than anything – they give me the opportunity to speak directly to the young people who may be feeling peer pressure or influence to drink heavily or use drugs.

“I can give my experiences of the terrible consequences of anti-social and gang behaviour, and let them know just how much this has affected both mine and my daughters’ lives. Hopefully by engaging with them face to face, and with me being a normal working class mother of three, the students can begin to understand why they need to take responsibility for their actions.

“The students here at The Mosslands are clearly a bright group and it is very welcome for me to visit a school which strongly promotes citizenship. We need to nurture and develop a generation of future leaders and instil a strong sense of community in our young people; hopefully my visit to The Mosslands School went some went some way to achieving this.”

Acting headteacher Veronica Lee said: “We are very grateful to Baroness Newlove for her time – she is a true inspiration for us all and I know that our boys found the visit both insightful and interesting. 

“We have a strong ethos of community and citizenship at The Mosslands and fully support Baroness Newlove’s campaign to reduce drink and drug abuse amongst teenagers and to get them positively engaging with the local community.

“Despite going through a tragic and horrific experience, Baroness Newlove is channelling all her energy to do something constructive and help others. Her down to earth and approachable nature allows her to really engage with young people, while at the same time deliver a strong warning message about drugs and alcohol misuse.”

The Mosslands is an innovative community school, providing education for boys aged aged 11 to 16 and with a mixed Sixth Form offering.