EIGHT selected students from Darwen Vale High School were among nearly 1,000 young people from across the UK to visit Westminster Abbey for the Commonwealth Day Observance.

The celebration was attended by Her Majesty The Queen and Their Royal Highnesses The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke of Cambridge and The Duchess of Cambridge.

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This year’s Observance celebrates the 2015 Commonwealth theme ‘A Young Commonwealth’.

Teacher Carolyn Hothersall said: “We were really excited about the visit.

“We’ve been researching some of the countries with very young populations and we’re looking forward to hearing about life in other parts of the Commonwealth.”

Speakers on the day included international child rights’ activist and 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Kailash Satyarthi, Queen’s Young Leader and community mobiliser PJ Cole and Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury MP, the first female speaker of the Parliament of Bangladesh.