A YOUTH programme promoting community cohesion has started up again in Tendring.

The Tendring Junior Ambassadors initiative, funded by Tendring Council, aims to encourage Year 5 and 6 pupils to be active members of the community while learning about different cultures.

Although running slightly differently this year due to Covid-19 restrictions, the programme is still operating in 16 primary schools across the district, and this year’s theme is cultural awareness.

Supported by the Essex Cultural Diversity Project, the initiative has seen workshops on African storytelling, drumming and singing from artist Anna Mudeka during Black History Month.

Future activities will include Bollywood dance, Chinese calligraphy and meeting Syrian refugees.

Throughout the project children will work with author Anita Belli and artist Clare Driver to produce a booklet about their involvement.

Lynda McWilliams, Tendring Council's cabinet member for partnerships, said the programme would reinforce a strong sense of community which had developed during the pandemic.

“Junior Ambassadors has run successfully for quite some time now, and I am pleased it is still able to go ahead this year when community is perhaps even more important than ever,” she said.

“By learning about their own community, and other cultures, our young people can become inclusive and active members of society, contributing for the good of all.”