Bradford Teens Fight Poverty with Pillows

Attention seekers: Flashmobsters invade Centenary Square (click image for video)

Around 50 young people aged from 14 to 18 gathered in Bradford's Centenary Square earlier to strike what they see as a blow against poverty. Many of those taking part had never met each other before the event, which was promoted and co-ordinated over the Internet.

The "flashmob" pillow fight was one of the first of its kind in Bradford. The teenagers from all over the district came together at the pre-arranged time to stage the event, which organiser Miriam Ahmed told BCB was intended to highlight the issue of people living in poverty around the world.

"Poverty goes on not just in third world countries, but here in England itself" she said.

"I kind of consulted my friends if they'd be involved in doing a pillow fight, so they were up for it, so kind of my idea .. along with other people"

And Miriam wasn't deterred by the heavy rain which threatened, for a time, to put a damper on things.

"If you think that young people are going to be disheartened by the rain and kind of stop and not do anything ... we're still going to be out here ... we're going to spell out our message, and get other people to hear about it" she said.

The pillow fight certainly attracted the attention of bystanders, and of Bradford's online community - several of whom contacted us via @bcbnews on Twitter to ask who was going to clear up the polystyrene chips left over once the pillows burst ... ?

Report: Jenny Wotherspoon & Richard Horsman Video: Jenny Wotherspoon