The exhibition is about the Holocaust, and the role of his family in fighting for freedom in two world wars and the conflict in Korea.
It’s a remarkable achievement for any 14 year-old, but all the more so because last year, Liam was branded as one of the ‘Wild Runts’ in the national press following reports of Anti Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) he and a group of local young people were given.
Pamela Jones, from the council’s youth offending team, has worked with Liam since and says: “Liam is someone we are now really proud of. He has worked hard to try to repair the harm he caused by writing to those people he had upset. His exhibition is impressive.”
It was a year ago that Liam got involved with a group of young people whose behaviour caused so much alarm in Beech Hill that they were all given criminal ASBOs.
But since he started working alongside the council’s youth offending team, Liam’s behaviour has been transformed. All the youths are completing a locally designed programme of work called ‘Dealing with Difference’, helping them to explore their own prejudices and behaviour.
Liam has gone a stage further with the help of his nan, Cicely Maunder. He’s been looking into his own family history. Cicely, who cares for Liam, told him about their relatives who fought, died or were injured during various conflicts. Liam visited the Imperial War Museum and gathered information from books, newspapers and websites to create a display featuring his family, people at war, life in the trenches and the victims of the Holocaust.
Liam says: “The best thing that doing this work has done for me is to teach me about my family and its history. I am proud that my great uncles gave more than enough to protect us all.”
After its stint at John Tiernan House the exhibition moves to Liam’s school, Shevington High.
“Liam really has turned his life round,” says proud nan Cicely. “It came as a real shock to him to appear in the national papers and it really has made him think again about his behaviour.
“Through his research he discovered that his relatives were giving their all for their country in war and they would have really only been a few years older than Liam.
“He is not going back to his old ways and will be doing another exhibition all about what it is like to have an ASBO.
“For the future he is now thinking about careers and is considering studying building and construction.”
