Folami, member of the Freedom tells us about his experiences of running the Hackney Half for charity.
On 17 May 2026, I embarked on my first ever half marathon for the Hackney Playbus – one of our many charity partners.
The Hackney Half was an event I’d always heard great things about but never planned on taking part. However, I was especially motivated to, after hearing the pivotal work that the Hackney Playbus does at the annual Charities Engagement evening.
The speakers were tasked to describe their function to their local communities in two minutes (a task I would not have managed) and I was particularly moved by the Playbus’ ability to provide a safe and supportive space for both children and parents to thrive in.
For me, running for the Playbus was a no-brainer. After raising £300 and completing 21.1 km I am very content that the funds will go towards connecting parents with essential support services, providing free play environments for children aged 0–4, supporting children’s learning and development and most importantly, continuing to bring communities together.
Their 2025–26 play programme supported hundreds of people across the borough:
- Delivered 213 Playbus sessions through our core programme;
- Facilitated 68 baby and toddler groups;
- Supported 533 children under five who engaged with our services on more than one occasion;
- Worked with 403 families across Hackney.
“We are incredibly grateful to Folami for choosing to support Hackney Playbus through the Hackney Half. Every pound raised helps us continue creating welcoming spaces where children can learn through play and families can connect, build confidence, and access the support they need. Community champions like Folami help us bring people together and ensure that families across Hackney continue to find joy, friendship and support through the Playbus.” – Ikram Hirse – Co-Director (Strategy & Finance), Hackney Playbus
The conference began with a networking reception where students were set the challenge of speaking to adults and students who they hadn’t met before and asking them about their own leadership journey. As well as the student leaders, attendees included Haberdashers with a range of leadership experience including political, business and social impact leadership.
During dinner students heard from a former Adams Head Girl, Harshini Muthukrishnan, about her experience in student leadership and as a Blue Peter presenter where she acts as a role model to tens of thousands of children. Her speech included an important reminder about the power of role models, supporting one another on your leadership journey and being proactive in taking opportunities to challenge yourself.
Day two of the event was opened by Lord Dr Michael Hastings of Scarisbrick CBE. Beginning his career as a teacher, Lord Hastings then worked across government agencies on policies to build racial equality, including as a Commissioner with the Commission for Racial Equality. He was honoured with a CBE and Peerage to House of Lords in recognition for his services to crime reduction. He spoke to students about ‘Leading from the middle and following from behind‘, taking inspiration from political leaders and philosophers and challenging students to consider their own values in relation to leadership.
This was followed by Tom Vallings who shared insights from his leadership experience in the British Army. Tom discussed leadership styles and gave students a practical framework in which to consider their ‘leadership house’ and how to develop trust as a leader, illustrated using stories from Tom’s forces experience.
John Griffiths and Dr Joanna Abeyie MBE shared a slightly different perspective on leadership, focusing on civic responsibility and their roles as Common Counsellors in the City of London. They encouraged students to value civic responsibility and as leaders to inspire their peers to value political participation and make change in their communities.
Fleur Brading spoke to students about their career journey, how leadership skills can develop throughout their career journey and how to apply the experience gained in a student leadership role when entering the employment market. She shared the advice to never stop learning, embrace feedback and seek out good people, encouraging students to cultivate empathy and develop communication and problem-solving skills.
All speeches were delivered by Haberdasher members.
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Following speeches, students had opportunity to practice and apply their leadership skills through three workshops:
- Body language and non-verbal communication – Mike Carter
- Building your leadership house and addressing your leadership challenges – Tom Vallings
- Lego challenge team building – Victoria Gordon
During workshops students were in mixed-school groups, presenting the additional challenge of working with students they had not met before. They considered their personal presentation through body language, worked together on real life student leadership challenges (gaining insight into each other’s contexts as well as reflecting on their own strategies) and were encouraged to take a purposeful approach to teamwork through a Lego-building challenge.
We asked students who had attended these workshops to share how they had applied this in their school community. Some had used the Lego activity themselves when working with younger year groups on developing leadership, others had applied body language techniques when speaking to peers in assembly and many had applied the challenges explored to set their strategy as a student leadership team. Students had also kept in touch following the conference, continuing to learn from each other’s experience and varied contexts.
