Lord Speaker's Peers in Outreach Programme

Karan Bilimoria (Chaiman of COBRA Beer and member of the house of Lords is visiting the pupils at De Ferrers High School on St Marys Drive to talk to the pupils...FR: Karan Bilimoria and Robbie Bailey

A MEMBER of the House of Lords has made a special visit to pupils at a Burton school to talk about life in Westminster.

As part of the Lord Speaker’s Peers in Schools Outreach Programme, The de Ferrers Academy hosted a talk from a member of the House of Lords on Friday to encourage students to engage more with the political and parliamentary process.

Lord Bilimoria met with Sixth Form and Year Eleven pupils for an hour to talk about the work and role of the House of Lords.

This was followed by a question and answer session on various aspects of the parliamentary process and life at Westminster generally.

Gregory Hand, director of support and guidance (Key Stage 4) at the academy said: “This was a fantastic opportunity for our pupils to interact with someone who knows the parliamentary system inside out, as it can sometimes seem far removed from their daily lives.”

The visit was arranged through the Lord Speaker’s “Peers in Schools” programme, which has been running across the UK since 2007 and has so far involved around 50,000 young people.

This continuing outreach programme sends members of the House of Lords into schools and colleges across the country to give talks in support of the citizenship curriculum

Year Eleven pupil, Megan Poxon, said: “Lord Billimoria made us feel like anything is possible, that one day we could be sitting alongside him if we chose.”

Fellow pupil, Sally Moores added: “Our motto, ‘Aspire and Achieve’, meant a lot to Lord Billimoria and is also his motto for life and business.”

Karan Faridoon Bilimoria, Baron Bilimoria, is a British entrepreneur and a life peer. He is best known as one of the two founders and chairman of Cobra Beer.

Bilimoria was appointed CBE in 2004 for services to business. He was appointed Baron Bilimoria, of Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in June 2006.