A teenager running for mayor has vowed to change negative stereotypes of the borough’s youngsters if elected.

Santiago Sanchez-Chu, 16, a student at Streatham’s Dunraven School currently studying for his GCSEs, is vying for the youth mayor position which allows him to allocate £25,000 to projects of his choosing.

If elected to the UK Youth Parliament, Santiago has said he wants to change the negative media image of Lambeth youths which he says he has grown “tired” of.

He said: “The stereotype is that everyone who wears a hoody will shoot or stab someone and that everybody who travels in groups is in a gang.”

An Earls Court resident, Santiago already spends much of his spare time helping charities, cleaning foot spas, and painting local benches.

He said: “I’ll create public events where young people help out, for instance at war memorials, to counter the negative press. I would work closely with charities who help juveniles get out of bad lifestyles and hold a meeting once a month at Lambeth town hall where anyone between 11 and 18 can come and give their views to me.”

Voting for the UK Youth Mayor ends on March 20. To be eligible to vote you must be aged 11 to 19 and live, work or study in Lambeth.

To registers and vote visit younglambeth.org/lambeth-youth-council/what-we-do/representing-young-peoples-views