Dear Friend of Peace Child:
Peace Child has a mission to “empower young people” – but over the years, it’s become obvious the reverse is true: it was, and is, you – young people – who empower the organisation and help it grow.
Now, as we head towards our Fortieth Anniversary in October, I’m gathering some of those whom we touched and, hopefully, slightly empowered – to help us create a new Peace Child story. Like the original, it will be set in the future, back-casting to the present to tell the story of what young people of today do with their lives to bring about the future we all want 40-50 years hence.
The story we created in 1981 imagined a clean, green world at peace in 2020. So – yes! – our generation failed. Spectacularly! But our 2-part challenge to today’s generation remains exactly the same:
- What kind of world would you like to pass on to your children and grand-children?
- Tell us a story of what a young person of today might do with his//her life to create that world?
I hope that you may be as interested as I am in the new stories that people, young and old, professional and non-professional, writers and theatre people – come up with. We’re offering prizes for every story featured in a UN Day Festival which will showcase the new stories and be live-streamed to UN outlets around the world in partnership with the UN Dept. of Global Communications on UN Day (Oct 24th.) We’re also offering prizes for new songs and new speeches featured in the Festival. Our plan is to repeat it every year, and include within it a factual State of the Planet Update and key measures of the UN’s progress with achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
My invitation to you is to take some time in September this year to review the short list of 5-10 story summaries, songs and statements I send you and make your recommendations.
And – of course! – I’d love it if you’d help promote this challenge to your friends, colleagues and family! And please! Enter yourself! Write your own story of what might happen to move us from the mess we’re in today to a clean, green sustainable world at peace by 2060-70. It’s a much, much harder story to write than the simple tale of a Russian girl meeting an American boy that I wrote back in 1981.
At the very least, I hope you will allow me to list you, one of the most distinguished and talented of all the young people Peace Child was ever privileged to work with, as a member of the Task Force – and that you will find some time in September to remember Peace Child and review the short-list of stories, songs and speeches that I send you.
Let me know?
With best wishes,
David
David Woollcombe, Founder and Chair of Trustees
Future Business Centre Kings Hedges Road Cambridge CB4 2HY UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1763 271 459 Cell: +44 7798 665 202
www.peacechild.org www.peacechildthemusical.com david@peacechild.org
UK Charity Commission Regd No: 1095189 UK Company No: 4472212