St Mark’s Academy in Mitcham, part of Anthem Schools Trust, welcomed renowned social housing activist and artist Kwajo Tweneboa to the school this month.

Mr Tweneboa, who is a former St Mark’s student, came to the school to speak to members of the student leadership teams at their Annual General Meeting. He often appears in the national media as a result of his high profile campaigning on social justice issues. He has written a book called Our Country in Crisis – Britain’s Housing Emergency and How We Rebuild that will be published in July this year.

Kwajo was recently offered an MBE but turned it down, back in 2021, he and his siblings were living on an estate in south London opposite St Mark’s Academy, in a flat with no ceiling in the main room, mouldy walls, a vermin infestation, water streaming through light fittings and asbestos. His calls for the issues to be addressed by the UK’s biggest housing association, Clairon, were ignored for 18 months.

Following his tireless public campaigning the housing association were eventually spurred into action and repaired the flat. Since then, Mr Tweneboa has become known as a champion for those fighting similar battles and regularly advocates to end any stigma around social housing.

Representatives from the school’s Student Council, as well as Prefects and the BIG Group all attended the Annual General Meeting to hear from Kwajo about how to affect positive change. They also used the opportunity to begin preparations for the school’s upcoming Cultural Day, where they celebrate the different heritages of all the staff and students.

Hannah Fahey, Principal at St Marks Academy said:

“Everyone at St Mark’s wants to say a big thank you to Kwajo for taking the time to come and speak with some of our current students and for everything he gives back to the local community. I am so unbelievably proud of who he is as a person and all the work he does to inspire a new generation of change makers.”