from left to right: Annabel Brin, Leah Grant, Jerry Dammers, Lizzie McLeod, Ely Burrows

The Music Department are thrilled to announce that a protest song written by three Year 9 students has won a national competition organised by Amnesty International.

Leah Grant, Annabel Brin and Eleanor Burrows (Year 9) were crowned Young Human Rights Songwriter Performer of the Year at a prestigious ceremony in central London, hosted by Radio 1Xtra’s Nick Bright.

The young group beat off competition from all four corners of the UK to win top prize in the Songwriter Performer: Upper Primary and Lower Secondary category.

This year, over 7,000 young people took part in Amnesty’s Youth Awards. 

Leah, Annabel and Eleanor received their award from Jerry Dammers of The Specials, along with a trophy, certificate and goodie bag.

Eleanor said: “It’s unbelievable to have won and we never expected to get this far in the competition. We were convinced we weren’t going to win because all the finalists were so great. Our piece was about the sensitive issue of homophobia which has been a huge issue this year from the Uganda anti-gay laws to same-sex marriage in the UK.”