Baroness Lola Young has been an actress, an academic, an activist and campaigner for social justice, and a crossbench peer. From the age of eight weeks to eighteen years, she was moved between foster care placements and children’s homes in North London. Her compelling memoir, published in November, tells the story of her childhood in foster care to becoming one of the first Black women in the House of Lords. It has been described by Gary Younge as ‘an inspiring story from an inspirational storyteller’ and by Michelle Gayle as ‘a remarkable account of rejection, resilience and resolve.’ In the book Lola assembles the pieces of her past (through care records, fragments of memory, anecdotes and her imagination) into a portrait of a childhood in a system that often made her feel invisible and unwanted. Alongside glimpses into her life as a peer, activist, and campaigner it tells the powerful story of her determination to defy the odds.

Lola’s story will provide the focus for a deep dive into the experience of children and young people in the care system, both then and now. Lola joins Laurelle Brown, Director of Laurelle Brown Training and Consultancy, and Rokhsana Fiaz OBE, Mayor of Newham, at the Conduit Club for a discussion on the UK care system’s blind spots, and where improvement and fresh insights are needed.

Speakers

Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey became one of the first Black Women members of the House of Lords in 2004. Raised in foster care in north London, she studied at the New College of Speech and Drama, then worked as an actress, before becoming Professor of Cultural Studies at Middlesex University. Later, she worked in arts administration before receiving an OBE in 2001 and becoming an independent crossbench member of the House of Lords. She is an active campaigner against modern slavery and unethical fashion. In 2017 she was on the Man Booker Prize judging panel, and she is also Chancellor of the University of Nottingham.

Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE, elected in May 2018, has led a transformative agenda in Newham, focusing on inequality, poverty, youth investment, Community Wealth Building, participatory democracy, and the Climate Emergency.  She is leading one of London’s most ambitious affordable housing programmes as part of Newham’s regeneration schemes. Under her leadership, Newham became the first UK council to prioritize residents’ health, happiness, and wellbeing as key economic indicators.  As an advocate for racial justice and equalities, Rokhsana was awarded an OBE in 2019 for services to Black and Minority Ethnic Communities in the UK.

Laurelle Brown is passionate about improving children’s lives. She is a qualified youth and community worker with over 20 years’ experience in a range of roles. Her interest areas are anti-racism, systems thinking and intersectionality in systems change. As CEO of Laurelle Brown Training and Consultancy, she collaborates with leaders to strengthen equity and inclusion across systems for children. Laurelle is also a Churchill Fellow, and Co-Founder of KIJIJI, a community for Black safeguarding professionals.

‘In Eight Weeks Baroness Lola Young reveals how a child is constantly wronged by a system which was supposed to help. The pure character necessary to grow through this dark entangled forest of childhood is the stuff of legends…I am in awe of the woman who grew from the child in this book. And when you read it you will see why’ – Lemn Sissay, author of My Name is Why

Copies of the book will be available for sale at the event.