Tooting MP Sadiq Khan returned on Tuesday 2nd March to the school he himself attended, to launch the Interact Club, an off-shoot of the Rotary Movement aimed at 14-18yr olds. The club, organised by Ernest Bevin College in Tooting, will promote good citizenship of young people and aims to get them involved in their local community, while making friends and having fun.

Set up and organised by 6th form teacher Mr Hurcombe, the Interact Club will be required to undertake one local community project and one international project each year. The Ernest Bevin Interact Club’s local community project for this year will be to restore & refurbish the school courtyard, while its international community project will be to raise funds for Aquabox (a long-established Rotary scheme), where fund raising will help to purchase water purifying equipment for parts of the world that suffer from droughts and water pollution.

Local MP Sadiq Khan, who himself attended Ernest Bevin College, said: “I am delighted with the launch of such an important club for both the community and the school. By getting young people involved in the Interact Club the local area will benefit greatly and the children will develop a broad range of skills, a greater awareness for others and a respect for their local community.”

 “I wish the Interact Club had been there when I was at the school. It looks like it will be a rewarding and fun experience and I would encourage every young person to get involved!”

There’ve been some big improvements to the Northern Line in recent years, but the recent announcement on engineering works by Transport for London, which will see extensive closures this year and in 2010, could see it again dubbed the “Misery Line”.

Tube Lines, the firm in charge of Northern Line upgrades, have doubled their original requests for weekend closures on the line and have announced it wants to close certain stations early on weeknights. Their current plan is to close the line north of Kennington from 10pm for 16 months from July and during most weekends for 20 months, starting in March.

Sadiq was among leading thinkers and media commentators who took part in debates with sixth formers at Graveney School on Wednesday.

The day-long event was organised by the Global Uncertainties Schools Network, which facilitates discussion and debate around core research areas such ideologies and beliefs, and culminated in a Question Time style session, open to the public.
 
Topics included extremism and balancing freedom with security.
 
Other panel members included Zoe Williams from The Guardian and Andrew Copson from the British Humanist Association.