Youth Council

Matthew is 24, Jewish and has been involved with the F&BF over the past 4 years through ParliaMentors, writing articles and now the Youth Council. He studied Politics and Economics at undergraduate level before attaining a master’s in Public Policy.

He says that the Youth Council is amazing as it allows its members to take real ownership of our own projects, giving us great experience of leading, working within a team and gaining more interfaith knowledge!

Lauryn Duncan-Rouse is F&BF’s Parliamentors Kickstarter, and joined the Youth Council in 2021. She holds a law degree from SOAS, where she focused on international law and the relationship between law and culture. A former ParliaMentor herself, her team hosted an interfaith event in Ealing as part of the Jo Cox Great Get Together in 2019.

Propa Rezwana Anwar is a British-Bangladeshi Muslim author and Student Representative of Social Sciences at King’s College London. A former Media & Communications Intern at The Faith & Belief Forum, she now serves as Vice Chair of Barnet Multi Faith Forum. Alongside activism she enjoys hosting a bilingual show on Channel S TV (Sky 777), travelling and running her EdTech company.

I’m Maria, a law graduate and a current bar course student. I am always looking for opportunities through which I can have a positive impact on the wider community. This was my reason for taking part in the Parliamentors programme in 2020-2021 and my reason for joining the Youth Council this year. I hope to further grow and learn from my position as a member of the Youth Council and use that experience to bring about change essential for social progress.

Hey, this is Adhish Wali here from Bidar, KA, India. Being part of the council, I aim to lead the council in launching new initiatives, activities and development of the community in the City of London. A SU leader with 5 years experience and ParliaMentor, I hope we bring the new collaborations with different businesses, organisations, political ties, etc.

Mashiyath is a British-Bangladeshi Muslim who has recently graduated in Politics and International Relations from QMUL. She took part in the 2020/21 cohort and has been involved in other projects such as Amnesty Internationals Rise Up programme and leading her university’s feminist society. She is excited to make meaningful change within the Youth Council and learning more about interfaith collaboration!

Tom became involved in the Faith and Belief Forum through the Parliamentors programme as a philosophy student at the University of Manchester. He led local democracy projects and protests against climate inaction whilst being mentored by his ‘Parliamentor’: Labour MP Charlotte Nichols. Tom is interested in religious pluralism and joined the youth council because he wanted to use the unique lenses of different faiths to create better policies.

I am a trained lawyer, who recently completed the Bar Practice Course + LLM. Additionally, I am also a certified and Accredited Mediator. My professional interests and experience lie in Family Law, Criminal Law, Immigration, Housing Law, Charity Law and Dispute Resolution. I am a strategic and focused leader with ability to plan and organise, communicate effectively, lead, and contribute to a team. I am looking forward to serving as a member of The London Youth Council.