Stephen Lawrence trust gives young architects a helping hand

Funded by the London Development Agency, the Shape Your London competition, is aimed at 16- to 19-year-olds. Entrants are being asked to submit designs to change their local area.

Prizes include bursaries for university and college courses or funding to cover costs while carrying out work experience.

Stephen’s mother Doreen Lawrence, who is director of the trust, said: "The Shape Your London design competition is an exciting opportunity for the trust to continue discovering talented and aspiring architects and designers from across London, and providing them with a unique opportunity to engage with an industry they may otherwise have felt excluded from."   

The trust was set up in memory of Stephen Lawrence, who was killed in 1993. His killers have still not been prosecuted.

Speaking at the trust’s annual memorial lecture this week, London mayor Boris Johnson said the capital will be forever "stained" until those responsible were prosecuted.

He said: "It shocks me to think that in a few days’ time, Stephen Lawrence should have been celebrating his 36th birthday. The fact that the killers of this articulate young man, who had a brilliant future ahead of him, have never been brought to justice remains an indelible stain on our city."

The Shape Your London competition launches next month and closes in February.