Stephen’s Story

Who was Stephen Lawrence?

Stephen Lawrence was born on 13th September 1974 in South East London.His parents are
Neville and Doreen Lawrence and he has two younger siblings, Stuart and Georgina.
As a young child, Stephen demonstrated an interest in art; he loved to draw and paint. Stephen
was a keen learner; he was good at most subjects at school, but his best were art and maths.
As well as his interest in design, he was also an entrepreneur – at 16, he set up a small business
with his best friend designing and selling T-shirts, caps, jackets and book covers of well
known bands, rappers and political figures such as Malcolm X. He even worked as a film extra
alongside actor Denzel Washington in the film For Queen and Country.

Stephen decided to use his skills in art design and maths to aim for a university place studying
architecture. Following his GCSE exams, his family found him work experience with architect
Arthur Timothy’s practice.

Tragically, at the age of 18 on 22nd April 1993, Stephen was murdered in an unprovoked racist
attack. He didn’t know his killers and his killers didn’t know him. To this date, no-one has been
put in prison for his murder.

In his memory and to inspire and help young people just like him, his family set up the Stephen
Lawrence Charitable Trust . Since 2000, the Trust has helped many young people realise their
ambitions to become architects by supporting them with bursaries and mentoring support.
In 2008, the Stephen Lawrence Centre was opened in Deptford, South East London giving
thousands more young people an opportunity to nurture and use their creativity.

Why is his story important?

Stephen was just like most young people, juggling an active social life, school work, family
commitments and part time employment. He had ambitions to use his talent for maths, art and
design to become an architect and wanted to have a positive impact on his community.
If you have similar interests and ambitions to work in the built environment, and are inspired
by Stephen’s story, email us at info@stephenlawrence.org.uk

“The Trust opened up the world of architecture to me… it has invested in my future, saying I
am good and I am talented” Sayed Shah, Bursary Student

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