Radcliffe Canteen Goes Plastic Free – Daisy’s testimony

As a young person in Milton Keynes, it is often hard to feel your voice is being heard, especially in the current political climate. that’s why organisations like Citizens MK are so important when it comes to the opinions and concerns of young people, being respected by powerholders in the community.

11 students from The Radcliffe School Sixth Form took part in a one-term ‘Anger to Action’ course organised by Citizens:mk and funded by MK Community Foundation.

With the help of Tom, the Community Organiser, a small group of us shared our thoughts and ideas about what angered us, issues such as part time jobs and school facilities were topics everyone agreed needed to be explored, but after further discussion, it became clear that there was a more pressing social issue that affected all schools across Milton Keynes. Single use plastics.

Tom assisted us in putting pressure onto our headteacher and other positions of power within the school, to try and get a response from them, in regards to the excessive amounts of single use plastics used in our canteen. Every member of staff we spoke to was extremely cooperative and after weeks of negotiating, research and bargaining, we took the issue to the student council.

This platform gave us yet a louder voice and through them we were finally able to create enough of a stir to be acknowledged and real steps to be taken in the direction of reducing our single use plastics. 

We all enjoyed the project and ultimately learned a lot from Tom and the other inspiring leaders we mingled with over the months, many of which, gave us the opportunity to get our voice heard and make a change for good.

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