City of Westminster College students have enjoyed a week-long programme of enrichment activities to mark Black History Month, the annual UK celebration of African and Caribbean history, heritage and culture.

Events included a visit by comedian/mentor ADE, a Black History Month-themed play performed by young people from Archbishop Tenison’s School and a talk by Urban Youth PR and Marketing agency Marcus Miller.

Highlight of the programme was an afternoon of activities on Thursday 20 October. Choice FM DJ Abrantee gave a motivational talk about his route to success and Polar explorer Dwayne Fields – who has already reached the North Pole and plans to trek to the South Pole in 2012 – described what motivates him to undertake these tough physical and mental challenges. There was also a special appearance by Rose Royce lead singer Gwen Dickey, who described her personal route to success in the music business, held a Q&A session with students and then provided a fantastic vocal finale to the afternoon.

ACLT, the charity working to encourage more bone marrow and blood donors from among the African, African Caribbean and Mixed Parentage communities and support people living with leukaemia and other blood disorders, were on Campus throughout the day to publicise their work. Charity co-founder and Chief Executive Orin Lewis gave a moving speech about the work of the charity, inspiring many students and staff to consider becoming donors in the future or sign up there and then.

ACLT Chief Executive Orin Lewis says: "For ACLT it was enlightening and uplifting to participate in City of Westminster College's Black History Month events programme. Students of all races listened to our message and actively stepped forward to become a donor to someone they may never know, and spread the word to their peers. At ACLT we already know that one person can make a huge difference to the life of another. This event reminded us just how proactive young people are when we engage with them positively through education and information."

City of Westminster College Student Enrichment Team Leader Lindon Wallace, whose team organised the initiative with the assistance of Westminster City Council Youth Engagement team, says: “This was a fantastic opportunity for students to meet inspiring members of our community and find out more about their success – as well as being informed and entertained through words and music. We are very grateful to all the people who gave their time to make the College’s Black History Month celebration such a great success.”