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Campaign! Make an Impact is an innovative project in which children change their lives through engagement with museum and library collections. First they study a historic campaign such as the movement for the abolition of the slave trade or the struggle for votes for women. Then inspired by the past, they use their new skills to plan and run modern day campaigns about issues that affect them today. Results of the project have been described as "phenomenal" with pupils learning from the past to change their environments, their futures and raise their self-esteem.

During the 'Bitter Sweet' project pupils from Easingwold School in North Yorkshire studied the abolition of the slave trade by looking at collections from the British Library, Harewood House and Hull Museums. They were given a taste of the 1807 parliamentary debate to abolish the slave trade through a re-enactment in the Hull Guildhall. Pupils also looked in depth at Harewood House's links to the sugar trade while  working with Peter Kershaw of Duchy Films to produce a graphic novel. The graphic novel, which was scripted by the young people themselves, is based on photographic stills of the students in period costume. The pupils then built a modern day campaign to improve local sport facilities for young people.

 Pupils' comments:

• "I really enjoyed debating and learning more about slavery!"
• "Now I can see just how important freedom and equality are regardless of difference in genes."
• "No qualms or complaints whatsoever. A truly enthralling project!"

For further information about the Campaign! Make an Impact project, and to download a copy of the above-mentioned graphic novel, please select the following websites:

www.bl.uk/campaign
www.mylearning.org/campaign

Additional information is also available from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) report, "Inspiration, Identity, Learning: The Value of Museums." Page 25 and throughout.
http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/Thevalueofmuseumspt1.pdf.