The Peace Child Mission statement was, originally, “Harnessing the Arts in the Service of Peace.” As a result of the power and confidence children derived from doing the Peace Child play, it then became: “Empowering Children.” In the 1990s, as the young people we were working with became older and older, the Mission statement was changed to –
“EMPOWERING YOUNG PEOPLE”
This has been our mission statement since 1993, and it remains the same until today.
Since we started the Be The Change activity in 1999, the mission statement is sometimes extended to include the famous Gandhi quotation: “Empowering young people to be the change they want to see in the world.” But the word ’empowering’ – though perhaps over-used – identifies exactly what we hope to offer young people: their chance to make a difference in the world before their 18th birthday.
People sometimes ask: “What are the values a Peace Child lives by?” – some of them hoping for an answer relating to faith – Christian values, perhaps. But Peace Child has always been studiedly ecumenical, welcoming people of all faiths and of none. So the values that define a Peace Child are: “Selflessness and Integrity” – which can be interpreted as a 100% commitment to telling the truth, and seeking the truth in all things – material, emotional, political and scientific, along with an equal commitment to caring for others before your self: a determination to put the concerns of others and the wider community before your own. Interestingly, these values became the first two identified by the UK Committee for Standards in Public Life, later known as ‘The Nolan Principles.’ It’s a great code to live by – and we remind every young person joining a Peace Child performance or project of these values we all attempt to live by.