PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
MILLENNIUM ARTS FESTIVAL FOR SCHOOLS (14 December 1999)

That this House, mindful that the Millennium celebrates the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, congratulates JC2000, the Millennium Arts festival for Schools, on its success in signing up over 18,300 schools in the United Kingdom, with pupils of all faiths and none, to create artistic answers to this question 'if Jesus of Nazareth were to visit your area in the year 2000 what would you say to him and what would he say to you?'; further notes that the member schools (which include over 800 special schools) are already starting to display their presentations in hundreds of local festivals, and will thereby create a huge reservoir of art works, musical compositions and dramatic presentations which can be drawn upon by local organisations wishing to celebrate the Millennium and thus involve whole communities in the true meaning of the celebrations; further notes that the JC2000 charity has already raised three-quarters of the ú1.2 million it requires without receiving a penny of either Government or Lottery funding and wishes it success as it seeks the remainder; notes that, in addition to the local festivals, JC2000 will stage regional festivals of schools' work, culminating in a UK festival at the Royal Albert Hall in June 2000; and urges honourable Members to play their part in encouraging their local schools, thus helping to ensure that the generation which will inherit the Millennium will understand both the reason for celebrating the year 2000 and the part played by the Christian tradition in the development of this nation.

Sponsored by:
Lord Anderson of Swansea (Labour)