Thursday 24 November 2016

November's meeting

This week we held our November monthly meeting and we have a few things to report. Following discussions at the Vale Youth Forum, members concerns about long lunchtime queues have been raised with professionals who are looking into carrying out some research into the issue and the impact it has on students.

Also, we've had a great idea to have some training in British Parliamentary style debating and can't wait to suggest it to the Vale Youth Forum.  Hopefully we will then be able to hold a debate on a chosen topic and invite some decision-makers to listen to our ideas.

The Trans*Form Cymru Charter was also discussed again and we are grateful to have a case study of a young person from the Vale which supports the need for a local LGBTQ guidance document for schools and organisations working with young people.

Also, please see below the new Youth Mayor poster for 2016-17, copies will be coming to schools, youth clubs and youth organisations soon!

      

Thursday 17 November 2016

The results are in!

So 2016 was the second year young people involved in participation projects in the Vale took part in the Make Your Mark campaign.  The Make Your Mark campaign is run by the British Youth Council across the UK and the results are used to find out the top issues for young people which are later debated and voted on at UK Youth Parliament.

This year in the Vale we collected 4136 Make Your Mark ballots and the Vale was the top performing Local Authority in Wales - woop woop! This could not have been achieved without the hard work of members of Penarth Youth Action, Barry Youth Action, Llantwit Youth Council and the Vale Youth Forum whilst encouraging young people to take part in the ballot not to mention the support from Barry Comp, Bryn Hafren and Cowbridge Comp!   

So what did young people vote for and what are the top issues for young people in the Vale?   
  • A curriculum to prepare us for life - 804
  • Votes at 16 - 560
  • Transport - 508 
  • First aid education for all - 469 
  • Stop cuts that affect the NHS - 448
  • Mental Health - 440
  • Tackling racism and religious discrimination - 429
  • Body Image - 171
  • Raising Awareness of Sexual Harassment in schools - 164
  • Fund our youth services, don't cut them - 143    

Monday 14 November 2016

Armistice Day

On Friday 11th November, as Deputy Youth Mayor I attended the Vale of Glamorgan Armistice Day ceremony to commemorate the fallen and in support of the Royal British Legion.  It was an honour to represent the Youth Cabinet and lay a wreath on behalf of young people.  The ceremony took place at the Civic Offices in Barry in front of the Merchant Seaman Memorial where there was a short service, a two-minute silence and a wreath laying ceremony.  



Friday 11 November 2016

UK Youth Parliament debate

It's not every day you get to sit and debate in the House of Commons! Not wanting to sound too clichéd but it is quite literately a dream come true for me. Today I attended the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) annual sitting and represented young people from the Vale of Glamorgan.  There were nearly 300 Members of Youth Parliament (MYPs) present, all representing young people from across the UK.  I travelled up with other MYPs from Wales so thanks to Children in Wales for organising this!  

The whole debate was chaired by John Bercow, who is a champion of young people's voices in democracy and gives great support to the UKYP. We debated the 5 top issues of the Make Your Mark ballot, issues that affect young people right across the UK including; Votes at 16, Cuts to the NHS, A curriculum to prepare us for life, Tackling racism and discrimination and Improving transport. All the MYP's debated in a very fair and thoughtful way, debating complex issues in an astute manner that impressed all of the prestigious visitors that included some MP's.

As voted for at the end of today's debate, the national UKYP priority for 2017 will be lowering the voting age to 16 and 17.  The devolved priority will be a Curriculum to prepare us for life. I can't wait now to get back to the Vale (hopefully soon but London traffic is awful) and raise awareness of the outcomes from the debate with everyone at the next Vale Youth Forum meeting.