Youth Cabinet Induction Day

On Friday 1st June we met for the first time as a new Youth Cabinet and took part in an induction day to get to know each other; learn more about the role of the youth cabinet; difference decision-makers in the Vale of Glamorgan; and the structure of the Vale of Glamorgan Council.

We also met with Alun Cairns MP and talked about his role as Member of Parliament and Secretary of State for Wales.  We discussed lots of issues such as Brexit, Votes at 16 and the electrification of the rail network in Wales.  We also met Councillor Bob Penrose, Cabinet Member for Learning & Skills in the Vale of Glamorgan to learn more about his portfolio.  I think we will be working quite closely in the future.

We are looking forward to our first meeting as a newly elected youth cabinet in June to start planning thinking our term of office and what we want to work on.

Strong Communities with a Bright Future

At last night's Youth Cabinet meeting we met with officers from the Vale of Glamorgan Council who discussed the new corporate plan called Strong Communities with a Bright Future. The document sets out what the council wants to achieve for the Vale over the next four years and explains how they are going to do it.  Supporting the well-being of people and communities is really important and they are going to do that in different ways.  A summary of the document can be seen below.

As a Youth Cabinet we are looking forward to working with the council to help design and create a digital animation to help raise awareness of the plan so as many people as possible know about it.  

 

School Transport update

We just wanted to give you an update on the progress of the Youth Cabinet school transport.

In 2015 we carried out a piece of work around young people's experience of school transport.  This came after young people were sharing their experiences of school transport and some concerns were raised.  We decided to create a survey and consult young people across the Vale to find out their opinions.  We then created a report, a summary document and made several recommendations.

Our recommendations are now being taken to Cabinet for consideration.  As soon as we have any more updates we will keep you posted!

Contact1Vale, My Travel Pass & International Women's Day!

In our meeting on the eighth of March, we discussed a new app that was being developed called Contact1Vale.  It's an app for the Vale Of Glamorgan. By using the app users will be able to report issues in their local areas, such as potholes, and there are many links to information that the users would want to know, such as events in the Vale and general council information. This is made accessible to the users. As young people, we questioned how we could make other young people want to use the app. We felt that by containing information for young people and by showing young people what's available for them would enable us to promote the app amongst the youth.

We also completed two surveys: one was about our satisfaction in leisure centres, the second about Welsh Government's new Travel Pass scheme, offering young people discounts on bus travel in Wales. Finally, a big congratulations to Bronwen and Dan, who received certificates for 50 and 100 Millennium Volunteer hours. A great achievement and a display of great commitment.

Also, happy international women's day!!

Our meeting with Cabinet

Tonight we met with the Vale of Glamorgan Cabinet, we meet with them once every term.

As usual, the meeting was very productive and feedback from the cabinet members was positive. We told them about the activities and meetings we have been involved in over the past few months and they were all impressed with the amount of work we've been involved in, from our monthly youth cabinet meetings, to attending the Holocaust Memorial Day event and meeting with the Children's Commissioner for Wales.

We also discussed future plans for the Youth Cabinet, in the coming months.  We updated the Cabinet on the progress of our school transport report and our response from Edwina Hart, Welsh Government Minister for Economy, Science and Transport.  Then we discussed how the council are planning to make savings - it's a difficult job to do!! Cabinet discussed some important projects we are hoping to get involved in in the future such as an NHS Orchard and raising awareness of Young Carers.  These are areas we definitely want to get involved in as youth cabinet members!

Do you know about the Children and Young People Partnership?

Who is the VOG Youth Mayor 2015-16?

Do you know who the Youth Mayor and Deputy Youth Mayor in the Vale of Glamorgan is? Watch this video to find out more.