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Home Secretary to attend Stephen Lawrence memorial service

21 April 2008

To mark the 15th anniversary of the murder of Stephen Lawrence, on 22 April 2008 the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, will be among those attending a memorial service at St Martin-in-the-Fields church, London. She will also address guests at a reception later in the day.

Stephen was the victim of a horrific racist murder in 1993 and since then his mother, Doreen Lawrence, has campaigned for race equality, particularly within the police and Criminal Justice Service. In 1998 the Stephen Lawrence Trust was established to promote equality, diversity and social cohesion, while also investing in young people so that they may overcome any economic, social or cultural obstacles to fulfilling their potential.

Since its inception, the trust has had many successes including:

• presenting inspirational lectures in over 300 UK schools, and five annual memorial lectures by committed and diverse speakers ranging from HRH the Prince of Wales to Maya Angelou
• awarding 35 undergraduate and post graduate bursaries to architecture students in the UK, Caribbean and South Africa, and three full scholarships to Architectural Association students
• establishing the Stephen Lawrence Architectural Prize, awarded alongside the Stirling Prize by the Royal Institute of British Architects
• organising the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust Black Tie Dinner to raise funds.

The Stephen Lawrence Centre was formally opened on 7 February 2008 and enables the trust to expand its work with both aspiring and disaffected children and young people by offering flexible education studios, mentoring, computer learning resources, meeting spaces and business development suites for young entrepreneurs.

Following Stephen’s murder and the subsequent investigations, the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry was set up to identify some of the shortcomings with the police's response. This proved to be an important agent for change within the police service and covered many areas, including:

• the recording, monitoring and responses to hate crime
• the organisation, structure and management of murder investigation
• liaison with families of victims of murder
• consultation with local communities
• the general excision of racist language from the police service

Following these recommendations, the Lawrence Steering Group was established and chaired by the then Home Secretary, Jack Straw. This was later succeed by the Lawrence Projects, which continues to move forward the race equality agenda.

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