TV presenter and architect George Clarke describes his excitement at returning to his hometown to launch a design project for local children.
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00:00 I'm more than fully educated on terrorism, which is all very much about hoaxes and hoax
00:05 innovation and hoaxes on everything that they find.
00:07 For us to be part of that celebration and have the challenge off the ground is fantastic
00:12 as well.
00:13 I want to say thank you to all the young people that have come along today for keeping us
00:17 part of the challenge.
00:19 Because that's what we all have.
00:21 Okay then George, what's it like to be back in Washington today and be part of this event?
00:26 Well it's always great to come back home.
00:28 You know I love Washington, it's where I grew up.
00:31 This place, the galleries, was basically my playground to be honest with you.
00:36 To be here today with so many young passionate people who want to be part of the Mobi Design
00:39 Challenge is brilliant.
00:40 And what's the Design Challenge all about and what's the rationale behind it?
00:44 Well Mobi's all about home design, home innovation and creating better homes, not just for the
00:49 future but for today to be honest with you.
00:51 So we're always trying to inspire young people to think about homes differently and how to
00:54 make them better, more beautiful, more sustainable, net zero carbon ideally.
01:01 And also healthier and happier places to live.
01:03 And Washington was an innovative place when it was built back in the 1960s.
01:08 The house that I grew up in is not too far from here, my mum's still there.
01:11 And it was a fantastic place to live, a great place to grow up.
01:15 We had some of the greatest thinkers actually working on the design of the new town from
01:19 master planners, landscape designers, all the way through to highways, building schools
01:24 and villages and shops.
01:26 But more importantly beautiful houses to live in.
01:28 And my mum's house still today is fantastic.
01:30 You know it might be like 50 odd, nearly 60 years old but for me it was a really innovative
01:36 piece of home design.
01:37 Okay it wasn't as sustainable as the stuff we want today.
01:41 So the whole point of this challenge is to get people to start designing, if you like,
01:46 a new mini area for Washington to put fantastic housing at the forefront of it.
01:51 So I'm really looking forward to seeing what they come up with.
01:54 I see lots of young people here today, I'm guessing you're excited to see the quality
01:57 of the designs that the kids come up with here?
01:58 I mean I'm buzzing about it.
02:00 I mean honestly for me to be standing here today in my hometown talking about a Moby
02:05 Design Challenge, engaging with young kids and launching this amazing project is, I mean
02:09 it's off the scale brilliant.
02:10 Honestly I never imagined in a million years I'd be doing this in my hometown so I'm chuffed
02:15 to bits.
02:16 But seeing what they come up with is the most important thing.
02:18 It's not about me, it's not about the charity really, it's about young people really being
02:22 inspired to think about doing beautiful housing.
02:25 And not just for Washington but for Southern London and throughout the North East to be
02:28 honest with you.
02:30 This is our 15th design challenge, we've done them all over the UK and I'm always blown
02:34 away by the standard of the submissions and the work that people put in.
02:38 So yeah I can't wait for next year to see what they do.
02:41 Thanks to Councillor Jonathan Chairman and Mayor and Councillor Laws as well for their
02:48 warm welcome.
02:49 And I believe Southern City Council for being able to take this matter to the Washington
02:52 area community for funding the mobile challenge without the people who wouldn't be able to
02:57 do it.
02:58 OK then Councillor Laws, how pleased are you to have George come along today to launch
03:01 his initiative?
03:02 I'm delighted to have George here and part of the Washington 60 celebrations, it's brilliant
03:06 that he's come along today to launch his project which I think is a real opportunity
03:10 for young people in Washington to gain skills and ultimately develop a career.
03:17 Real life changing opportunities for our young people here in Washington.
03:20 Obviously 60th anniversary coming up, a lot of young people here today, how important
03:24 is it to get them involved both in this initiative and also the wider celebrations?
03:27 It's vitally important to have young people from Washington involved.
03:32 We are obviously here to celebrate 60 years that have gone before in the history and heritage
03:36 of Washington over those past 60 years but it's really very important to me that we use
03:42 this as an opportunity to get young people involved and really prepare for the 60 years
03:48 that we have coming ahead.