Eastbrook’s Regina Pamba was elected as the young Mayor for Barking and Dagenham. Regina will echo that this position comes with many ‘firsts’, amongst them include being the first Eastbrook student and first British-Kenyan to hold this post. As a young woman of the people and for the people, Regina takes great pride in representing her peers’ views astutely and succinctly.

Throughout her years at Eastbrook, Regina has shown values and attributes of a good leader. She has a passion for the pursuit of justice and, with a ‘no nonsense’ approach, it is unsurprising that Regina has been provided with this opportunity and mandate to represent the young people of Barking & Dagenham. Though she has a hectic schedule ahead, she has the maturity to balance the demands of her studies, leading to her GCSE, planning activities and representing the young people. We wish Regina success in her exams and tenureship!

Below is Regina’s account of how she became Young Mayor of Barking & Dagenham

“This has been such an exhilarating journey and the reality of it hasn’t really set in yet. It’s been a long time coming, I should say and I am super proud to start on the path of being a young people’s advocate.

To become Young Mayor, you must be a member of the Barking and Dagenham Youth Forum which is the Borough’s platform for ‘young people to have a say on issues affecting their lives and communities,’ and it’s comprised ‘of 13 to 18 year olds elected by peers, in schools and youth groups, having a say and influence on policy makers.’. I joined the forum in 2019, being the only member from Eastbrook at the time and by being my true authentic self, I cast the foundations for my electoral victory on Wednesday 22nd of February. I have always been outspoken and unafraid of the truth, which some people may see as a negative and at times has cost me a lost, but I view it as me being able to speak honestly and a skill like that is particularly useful in the unprecedented times we face now.

Coming into Year 11, I sort of had my ‘eureka’ moment and realised it is only me who can grant me the successful future that I desire so badly. I realised that I was in the wrong headspace and was quickly falling into a path that I didn’t want to go down. I set my sights on becoming Young Mayor, very early on, maybe in December or so, I enjoy close relations with the two previous Young Mayors and have been able to accompany them and witness, side by side, the effort and passion that goes into a job like this.

I nominated myself and received lots of encouraging support from my fellow Forum Members, who have long been encouraging me to take up this job but the same support did not translate in my school life. Contrary to popular belief, I wrote no speech in advance and spoke on a limb to the whole forum hoping I could sway them with charisma. It worked. I vowed to continue to uplift the spirit and profile of Barking and Dagenham alongside fighting for the voices of Barking and Dagenham’s youth and I hate to break a vow.”