Anne Frank’s Thirteen in 13 Campaign

   

On this day in 1942, a young girl was given a diary for her 13th birthday. She recorded her thoughts in this diary while she and her Jewish family hid out in an attic before being captured by Nazis. Her name was Anne Frank and her diary is know worldwide as The Diary of a Young Girl.  Inspired by her diary, the Anne Frank Trust is running the Thirteen in 13 campaign.

 

If you’re thirteen years old - at any time during 2013 – get involved with the Thirteen in 13 campaign. It’s your chance to tell the Prime Minister, David Cameron, what you would do if you were the prime minister.

 

Anne Frank at a desk. Image courtesy of Anne Frank Trust.

 

The Anne Frank Trust said that the “Thirteen in 13 campaign gives young people the opportunity to make their voices heard at the highest level. We are inviting thirteen year olds to write a letter to the Prime Minister expressing their thoughts and hopes about growing up in twenty-first century Britain and telling him about the world in which they would like to be adults. Thirteen selected letters will be presented to Prime Minister, David Cameron, excerpts from which will be printed in The Times in early July. The Times will also print an open letter of reply from the Prime Minister, responding to the views and concerns of Britain’s newest teenagers.”

 

 

Francesca Simon, one of the judges for the competition element of the campaign (some of you 13 year olds might know her from your Horrid Henry reading days), told us a bit about her involvement.

WSD: When you were 13, what might you have written in a letter to the Prime Minister?

Francesca: When I was 13 I was very active politically. I grew up in America and I would have written about ending the war in Vietnam and gun control. Those were the two issues that really concerned me.

WSD: What inspired you to get involved with this campaign?

Francesca: I'm Jewish and so I've always been very aware that what happened to Anne Frank would have happened to me and any relatives living in Europe at the time. I think it is important that Anne's legacy be remembered. Children are the future and the sooner that they get involved in the issues that affect them the better! I first met The Anne Frank Trust when I gave a talk in Cambridge as part of a week looking at families and refugees and was delighted that they approached me to be involved in this campaign.Little M said about the campaign: “I think it is very good and it may help the world become a better place. I have already written a letter.”

 

 

To find out more about taking part, check out the Thirteen in 13 campaign website – it’s easy to get involved and takes just a couple of minutes to upload your letter. Do it before 21 June 2o13!

 

 

You can support the campaign

 

on Facebook (facebook.com/13in13campaign)

and Twitter (@13in13campaign).

Join the conversation with #Thirteenin13.