Signit

Hull primary school pupils and their friends and family can now help to make a stand against slavery - and be in with a chance of helping their schools.

Have you signed Hull's Wilberforce petition yet - and played your part in helping to end modern-day slavery?
So far, more than 50,000 people have signed it, including Prime Minister Gordon Brown and a variety of celebrities from across the world, including pop stars, actors, business people and musicians.
And now Hull's 18,900 primary pupils, along with their families and friends, are being urged to collect signatures too - as part of a campaign called Sign It.
The school which collects the most signatures (relative to its size) will win an IT suite of 10 desktop computers, while the individual pupil who collects the most signatures will win a personal lap top.
"This is an excellent opportunity for children to learn about issues going on in the world today," says Nigel Richardson, director of Children and Young People's Services at Hull City Council.
"And it's a good way to help them understand our city's heritage and the important and influential role played by Wilberforce."

Modern slavery

Hull City Council and its Wilberforce 2007 partners set up the petition in conjunction with Anti-Slavery International as a way of commemorating the achievements of Wilberforce in abolishing of the British Slave Trade 200 years ago.
The petition calls on governments across the world to unite against forms of modern slavery.
That includes girls as young as five in Ghana being used as domestic slaves, boys working as bonded labourers in India's brick kilns, and women being trafficked to the UK and forced to work in agriculture and prostitution.
Despite the efforts of Wilberforce, who collected more than one million signatures in 800 different petitions during his fight, there are still an estimated 27 million people living in situations which could be classed as modern-day slavery.

Partnerships

The Sign It campaign is being run in partnership with Cobus Communications, which has donated the computer prizes, and local radio station KCFM 99.8.
"We totally support the campaign and believe that by bringing it to the attention of school children it will help to make a difference both now and in the future," says Cobus account manager Darren Sunley.

info

To sign the petition, or for more details about modern slavery, visit www.wilberforce2007.co.uk Schools should note, however, that only signatures on the special 'Sign It' forms will count towards this competition (and not on-line signatures). For more information about the campaign visit www.hullcc.gov.uk or call 300300.