OBV eXpress @Waltham Forest College

Almost as soon as bus arrived at Waltham Forest College, the queues began: Hundreds of students came to the OBV eXpress to get registered to vote. The great success we had at the college was due in no small part because of the college staff, including Angela Buknor, Bal Phlora, Antoinette Beekya, and the Principal Penny Wycherley.

Her team had marshalled enthusiastic teaching staff to bring their classes to the bus to get registered to vote. At one point the bus was full of apprenticeship butchers, many blooded and smelling of best beef cuts. The apprenticeship construction workers followed,  and then the smartly dressed business students filed in to register. Some came out of curiosity, others with a sense of purpose and duty. All left feeling greatly empowered.

For us at OBV registering so many people who had never registered to vote, and up and till yesterday had barely thought about it was just a great feeling of success.

One woman said:

"I feel so proud about what I’ve just done. I will now have my say in the forth coming Elections."

During the day we held a debate in the student auditorium. Candidates from the Greens, Lib Dems, Labour, the Conservatives and the Trade Unionists and Social Coalition attempted to persuade a 200-strong audience why they should support their party.

But this day wasn’t just about the students. One of the staff members, Antoinette Beekye came up to me towards the end of the day and said:

Simon, my husband and I are very familiar with Black history: Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela and Bernie Grant, but when I stepped on your bus I felt something magical. It was as though I had joined the greats in our continued struggle for greater race equality.”

What the OBV eXpress has sought to exemplify during our four weeks of touring the country was best illustrated during our day at  Waltham Forest College: Young people informed, challenging, and politically empowered to believe they can change our world.

Simon Woolley