Malcolm Ball along with Janet Currier, Jessica Leech and others helped with the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) major bid for Government funding. This founded Pepys Community Forum (PCF) in 1999/2000 through to 2006 (7 years). Voice4Deptford is a project of PCF. We owe our existence to Malcolm Ball. He is a sad loss to the young people of Lewisham.
His sister Karen Ball writes:
My brother Malcolm Ball, who has died aged 61 of cancer, made a lasting contribution to the lives of young people in south-east London through his youth work in Lewisham.
In 2003 he co-founded, with his colleague Denis Hunter, the innovative Lewisham Young Mayor Project, encouraging young people in the borough to engage in local politics. Each year a young mayor is elected, and the chosen person has an annual budget to work with and a cabinet of volunteer advisers to implement the manifesto.
The idea has been much copied at home and abroad, and Malcolm and the young people involved helped a number of continental European towns to set up their own versions, including in Poland, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Sweden.
Read his full obituary here.
Malcolm was an inspiration to me as a youngster. I met him in 1997 through Deptford Youth forum and Rockbourne Youth club. He was someone who introduced me to youth politics and activism, which I passionately followed through my teenage years. Malcolm also introduced me to the idea of going to university which I ended up attending and graduating. He is a sad loss to the Lewisham and the world of youth work.
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