Multi-award winning singer Arlo Parks has been made a Unicef UK high-profile supporter.
The move elevates the Mercury prize and Brit award winner’s support for the charity and its commitment to protecting the rights of children around the world.
Parks has supported Unicef UK since 2021, when she performed at the organisation’s inaugural Blue Moon Gala at Outernet London, which raised over £750,000.
The musician and poet also wrote a short piece for Unicef’s report State of the World’s Children 2021: On My Mind, focusing on children’s mental health.
For her first appearance as a high-profile supporter she visited a secondary school in Balham, south west London which was recently awarded Gold in Unicef UK’s nation-wide Rights Respecting Schools Award.
“I feel so proud to be involved with Unicef UK and continue my journey with them as a High Profile Supporter,” Parks said.
“It was a privilege to visit the Rights Respecting School and see the work that Unicef UK do.
“I saw a lot of empowered kids which was really beautiful to see, and it was really interesting to see how different rights meant different things to different students.
“But I think at the core of it was that they feel empowered, feel like they can be themselves, that their differences are celebrated, that they are listened to, and that they can be encouraged to pursue a life and a way of living and a way of expressing themselves that feels good to them.”
The nearly 5,000 participating schools create safe and inspiring places for students to learn, which put children’s rights at the heart of education.
Over 1.6 million children attend a Rights Respecting school in the UK, with the award this year celebrating 15 years of empowering students to put their rights into practice every day.
Teacher Frankie Matthews said: “We’re so thrilled that Arlo Parks visited our students, and has inspired them even further to express their views and be themselves.
“We’re incredibly proud to be a Gold Rights Respecting School and can see the positive impact it has on our students.
“For us our sense of duty as teachers comes from understanding these rights and understanding how to help the children to feel empowered.”