Hull & Humber’s ONE HULL Tag Team return Wilberforce Petition

Following its 35,000 mile journey around the globe onboard Hull & Humber, the Wilberforce Petition which calls for the abolishment of modern day slavery returned to the city of Kingston-upon-Hull yesterday.

The Wilberforce Petition was handed back to the Mayor of Kingston-upon-Hull, Elaine Garland, by the ONE HULL Tag Team, a specially selected group of young people from Hull who were given the honour of carrying the petition around the world.

The return of the Wilberforce Petition took place at the ONE HULL Annual Conference in Hull’s new Albermarle Music Centre. Receiving the petition Elaine Garland said, “The ONE HULL Tag Team has worked very hard taking carrying this important petition around the world.” Addressing the team she added, “You are truly ambassadors for our great city and we are all extremely proud of you.”

The Tag Team and Wilberforce Petition initiative was set up by ONE HULL, a local strategic partnership, with the objective of developing skills in young people in order to encourage them into education and employment.

Christine Randall, Cabinet Minister for Children’s Services, said, “The ONE HULL Tag Team initiative has been an amazing opportunity to broaden young people’s horizons. For the Tag Team it has not just been about winning the race but it has also been a journey of discovery about themselves.”

The initiative was launched to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the abolishment of slavery in the UK, a movement that was led by Hull MP William Wilberforce. The Tag Team has collected signatures at each of the 14 Clipper 07-08 Race stopovers and in doing so they have raised the profile of their city and collected some high profile signatures to join more than 42,000 collected since the petition began.

The return of the Wilberforce Petition coincided with the 175th anniversary of the death of William Wilberforce. Attending the event was his great-great-great-great-grandson who was presented with a photo montage of Hull & Humber during Clipper 07-08 by skipper Danny Watson.

Danny said, “I feel very privileged to have been involved in this project. However, the responsibility came down to the Tag Team. They were the ones that spoke to the dignitaries, made speeches and gave interviews to the media. Hull should be very proud to have had the ONE HULL Tag Team as their ambassadors.

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