William Wilberforce was one of Hull’s most famous sons and a leading campaigner against the slave trade. He was born in Hull on 24 August 1759, he became a Member of Parliament for Yorkshire and devoted much of his political career to fighting the transatlantic slave trade. His Christian faith played a central role in his determination to challenge slavery.

After years of parliamentary struggle, the Slave Trade Act was passed in 1807, making the slave trade illegal throughout the British Empire. Wilberforce continued campaigning for the abolition of slavery itself, which was achieved in most of the British Empire through the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, shortly before his death.

His legacy: William Wilberforce demonstrated how faith, perseverance and political action could help bring about lasting social change.

Our group is a Messy Momentum group called The Dock @Sculcoates based at St Paul’s Church, Bridlington Avenue, Hull. The group consists of four girls aged 12 to 15, Emily, Luta, Maya and Sophie and two leaders called Raeann and Alizabeth. We meet the last Friday the month and spend time together in community by crafting, cooking, chilling and learning core values by games and meditation.

We went for the minimalistic and industrial approach showing cross-stitching, wool-work and the addition of chains and padlocks. We held a competition to see which design to do and the congregation picked this one. The girls have done most of the work themselves and they have loved being part of this project.