Rhammel Afflick

Afflick was born in London on 6 April 1994. He was educated at Chessington School, known as Chessington Community College at the time.[7] Afflick has written publicly about his experience as bisexual man in London.[8]

Afflick began campaigning aged 11, initially focusing on the relationship between young black men and the police.[9] He subsequently became heavily involved in local politics in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. Afflick was appointed an advisor of local authorities School Admission Forum,[10] Kingston's Community and Police Partnership and many other panels. He was elected a member of the UK Youth Parliament and Chair of the Kington Youth Council in 2011 advocating on issues such as child poverty and public transport.[11][12]

Afflick continued to campaign on issues affecting young people making regular appearances across the British media.[13][14] He then started writing for a number of publications including HuffPost and The Independent.[15] Alongside many other young people he has been an advocate of social action following his nomination as an ambassador of the Prince of Wales’ charity Step Up To Serve.[16] In 2015, he co-hosted the charities annual award ceremony alongside British television presenter Susanna Reid.[17]

Afflick has been outspoken about serious youth violence and gangs in the United Kingdom, campaigning on the issue alongside activists like Jeremiah Emmanuel, the founder of One Big Community.[18][19] He's been vocal about his support for a public health approach to the knife crime epidemic in the capital calling on politicians to take different steps to address the root causes of inequality. He has been critical of the approach taken by successive governments and politicians in response to knife crime.[20][18][21][22] His joint work with other young activists led to the formation of the UK Parliament Youth Violence Commission where he later gave evidence.[22]

Afflick has been a strong supporter of the UK campaign for lowering the voting age to 16. [23]

Since 2013, Afflick has volunteered for Pride in London and was appointed Communications Director in November 2019. [24] [25] During his time within the organisation he has campaigned on the importance of Pride and championed the importance of elevating black and transgender people within the LGBT community.[26]

Afflick volunteers with a number of charities including government-funded charity Police Now where he serves as a trustee.[27]

Afflick was a recipient of the British Empire Medal in the 2021 New Year Honours. He was recognised for more than a decades commitment to campaigning and volunteering in the community[28][29]

Commonwealth honours

Country	Date	Appointment	Post-nominal letters
United Kingdom	2020 – Present	British Empire Medal	BEM