International Day of Peace - a reflection on the success

​A live-streamed event held at the newly refurbished Fairfield Halls in Croydon, with attendees such as the Deputy Mayor of Croydon, Maddie Henson and the Imam of Croydon, went down well on the International Day of Peace, 21 September 2019.

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The aptly named ‘#practicepeace’ event was filmed by Peace Partners and live-streamed via PeaceCast.tv.  On the day, participants were invited to sign their own pledges for peaceful lives and activity, while Croydon’s Deputy Mayor and the Imam both signed the Bruxelles Declaration Pledge to Peace in order to make Croydon a ‘peace town’.  The Pledge to Peace is coordinated by the Secretariat of the Pledge to Peace and the Percorsi Association, an Italian non-profit organisation committed to bringing the topic of peace to the forefront of public discussion and institutional action.

Many inspirational speakers spoke at ‘#practicepeace’ including Addy Mumumie, CEO and founder-director of Begin2Sports Group Ltd. She spoke about how she came to set up her own sports organisation following her family’s interest in sport, and seeing a gap for young people after coming to the UK. Also ‘Uncle Errol’ McGlashan and Gennoria Miles, both residents of inner London, gave wonderful renditions of their astounding and inspirational poetry.

Other speakers included Ella Matheson of the Tutu Foundation, talking about her campaign for a government Ministry of Peace, which was followed by an encouraging peace mediation for event attendees. Kheron Kenado of the Ubuntu Roundtable project did some interactive activities to help us to get to know each other and break down barriers to communication.  All in all the day was hugely positive and there was a great energy in the room.

CEO of Peace Partners, Juli Hammersley said, “This is the kind of day that inspires all of us, where like-minded individuals come together to celebrate peace in a welcoming space. It is a massive step for Croydon to sign this declaration and has been marked by an enjoyable and memorable event. Hopefully some great connections were made at #practicepeace and we hope to hear more positive steps being taken forward in the name of peace. The fact that our event was live-streamed and people were watching and commenting from Tasmania, for example, is awesome to everyone at Peace Partners and beyond.”
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For more information, you can still view the live-streamed event at either PeaceCast.tv or on the Peace Partners YouTube channel.