Message from Mike Edwards

I want to thank you all for your amazing show and all the dedication, hard work and talent that went into making such a vivid, moving, and important play.

The newspaper and television coverage regarding the school in 1968 told a story that was not true. Your show told the truth: that people from different parts of the world, of different religions, colour, and culture; girls and boys, women and men, and people with disabilities, can be united, together and strong, like the tree in your show.

I would also like to thank you and all the staff for listening to our story and being brave enough to stand up to racism wherever it comes from. I am so proud to part of West Park School’s history, as I think you are too.

Going to school should not just be about learning to read and write but also to think and question things that are wrong. You have shown everyone not only your intelligence but your good character.

Martin Luther King said that he wanted his children to “live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character”.

Together united we can make a better world.

Congratulations, thank you and I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and a happy new year.

Mike Edwards, ex pupil, Class of 68