Marcus Wilton, nasen Young Person of the year (2020) meets Minister Will Quince

14-year-old Marcus Wilton, youth speaker, mentor and advocate for equitable education was invited to meet Minister Will Quince this week. During Marcus’ engaging account of his educational experience during nasen’s summit at Expo 2020, he shared that his goal for 2022 was to have a sit-down chat with the Minister. Motivated by Marcus’ ability to advocate for neurodiverse children and young people with SEND, nasen and the Expo team were determined to help Marcus achieve his goal. 

Accompanied by his Grandma Jean, nasen’s CEO Annamarie Hassall and Head of International Development Kamal Bodhanker, Marcus spoke about his hopes for change in the upcoming SEND Review, based on his lived experience, and the experiences of those he mentors. Minister Quince warmly welcomed Marcus’ recommendations for increased and improved teacher training, improved access to provision to enable children to go to their local school and the need for neurodiverse children to be prepared to be the workforce, and leaders of the future.

Minister Quince spent over an hour engaged with Marcus, listening and sharing his desire to action change in the upcoming SEND review.   

View the gallery below to learn more about the conversation.