Creating a legacy of hope

On page 7 of the April issue of RCN Bulletin, Chair of the RCN Diversity Committee, Sandra James, talks about hearing from Paul Anderson-Walsh of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust at a recent meeting. Find out what Paul said and what the charity hopes to achieve.

The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust was formed in 1998 following the tragic murder of the teenager in an unprovoked racist attack five years earlier.

It was set up to support young people from diverse, disadvantaged backgrounds to help them break the social and economic barriers that stood between them and a career in architecture and urban design, Stephen’s chosen career.

Since then the charity has awarded nearly 100 bursaries and seen eight young people qualify as architects. Now the remit of the charity has widened to help open doors into other professions.

“The charity was formed because Stephen’s parents wanted to see whether something good could come out of something so inconceivably evil,” said the trust’s managing director, Paul Anderson-Walsh at a recent meeting of the RCN’s Diversity Committee.

"For us it is about creating a legacy of hope by watering the seed of ambition one ‘Stephen’ at a time. The charity uses the memory of Stephen to wedge open the door of opportunity to make a difference, to tackle inequality and to create a fair society, one that enables disadvantaged young people to reach their full potential.”