A POET and campaigner who is now training to be an astronaut after winning a trip to space visited students at Bradford College.

Hussain Manawer, 26, gave a lecture on different topics – including how he could become the UK’s first Muslim in space.

A Bradford College spokesperson had contacted him via Twitter and he gladly accepted – even promising everyone who attended the lecture a Nando’s, which unfortunately he couldn’t buy after becoming stuck in traffic.

During the talk he explained how he had entered a global competition held in association with One Young World – a platform for 18 to 30-year-olds – which posed the question ‘how would you change the world’?

He created a piece of performance poetry about young people and mental health, for which he is an active campaigner.

Mr Manawer was among 30,000 applicants from 90 different countries. He was shocked to make the final 300, then the 30-strong shortlist and the final three: “little me from Ilford”.

He competed against a doctor and a humanitarian in the finals, held in Bangkok in 2015.

“I never win anything in life,” said Mr Manawer, whose prize was to travel beyond the 100km mark in XCOR Aerospace’s Lynx spacecraft , a visit to the United States and then NASA.

The date for the trip has not yet been confirmed but Mr Manawer will be the first UK Muslim to breach the atmosphere.

He said he was amazed by meeting astronauts – “imagine that, I speak to astronauts, people who have left the planet” – then going back to having casual conversations about hip-hop artist Stormzy on iMessage while sending GIFs and memes.

Mr Manawer’s training started last year when he visited an XCOR Aerospace training facility in Holland for G-force aerobatic flight training. “I never threw up – just many burps!” he said.

After the lecture at the college he walked down to City Park and shared his thoughts on the city: “Bradford actually really nice, innit!” He also compared Bradford, with its diverse population, to his home town of Ilford.

Mr Manawer’s ultimate aim is to be the head teacher of his own school. He also plans to further his campaign to help young people deal with mental health. “I want to change the world,” he said.