Emoji's celebration!

Last Thursday I attended the Emoji's presentation evening at the YMCA Barry.  I met with the Vale Youth Service staff who run the Emoji's project and support young people to develop confidence, self-esteem and learn to manage their emotions.  Along with the Deputy Vale Mayor, I presented certificates to the young people who had completed 10 weeks of creative work and watched a video showing what activities they had done. 

Afterwards I had the opportunity to meet the young people and talk about the project.  I also discussed the possibility of attending one of the sessions in the near future to learn more about the work they do and get involved in all the fun they have whilst on the project.   

Youth Visits

It's really important we visit young people across the Vale and find out what's important to them.  We feel very lucky to visit three different places and meet lots of young people.

First of all we visited Ysgol Y Deri in Penarth.  We were invited by one of the Vale Youth Forum members from the school who is also a prefect.  Thank you Katie for the invitation!  We held a meeting with the prefects and gave a presentation about the role of the Youth Mayor and Vale Youth Forum.  The Diversity & Equality Officer from the Vale Youth Forum also came along and we spoke to the pupils about some important issues such as transport, litter and friendships.

Afterwards, we were given a tour of the school and had the opportunity to see the facilities.  We were all impressed with how technology had been integrated into lessons, and how specialist therapies and equipment had been designed and tailored to the needs of the pupils.  There was a hydrotherapy pool and VR facilities to provide vivid sensory education.  There was also a radio station and a TV studio and one pupil suggested filming an interview with the Youth Mayor - we think this is a great idea!

Our second visit was to the schools youth club at YYD which is run by the Vale Youth Service on a Monday and Wednesday, 3.30-5.30pm.  We spent some time with a group of young people talking to each other, playing pool and air hockey, and taking part in numerous other activities.  Although it was a quiet start the young people told us why they enjoy going to youth club and what matters to them.  We've also been invited back to the youth club next term to discuss our progress!

Our last visit of the night was to the Young Carers youth group at the YMCA, Barry.  This youth club is for young people who may care for a family member.  It was really interesting to meet them and learn about their caring responsibilities and how this impacts their life.  The great news is several young people were very interested in joining the Vale Youth Forum and representing the voices of Young Carers.  We look forward to seeing them at our next meeting in December!

It was such a good day and we're so lucky we got to meet lots of young people and tell them all about us.  We're looking forward to visiting more schools, youth clubs and youth groups soon.

     

Another busy meeting

This evening the new Youth Mayor and Deputy met before the official Youth Cabinet meeting to sign their role description and review the @VOGYouthMayor Twitter account.  They also made plans to create a poster which you should see in schools and youth organisations across the Vale very soon, and watch out for the new Youth Mayor Instagram account!

During tonight's meeting we learnt about the Member of UK Youth Parliament's recent training session with Children in Wales in preparation for the UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting in November.  We also had an official response from the Vale Youth Service who set out what they plan to do with the recommendations we made in the Youth Service Satisfaction Report.  We are looking forward to meeting with the Senior Managers in March 2018 to review the progress that has been made.  More discussions took place about out priority work areas for this term of office including the Welsh Baccalaureate and low pupil moral, and gender equality in the PE curriculum.  We are hoping to invite some expert guest speakers to future meetings to gain more information on these topics which will help us set some objectives.

  

Last one before Summer!

Tonight we had a Youth Cabinet meeting, our last one before the summer break.  We gave our feedback on a variety of different events and meetings we did attend including the Vale of Glamorgan AGM, Armed Forces Day and the Barry Scout & Guide Fete.

Following the elections that took place in May we learnt more about the new Cabinet at the Vale of Glamorgan Council and the portfolios of the new Members.  We are looking forward to meeting the new Cabinet and working with them next term.  We also reviewed our action plan and seen the final version of our Youth Satisfaction Survey which we have sent to the Vale Youth Service.

More success for Emoji's

Another 10 weeks have gone by and another group of young people who attend the Vale Youth Service Emoji's project have completed the programme.  It was great to attend the presentation evening again and meet the young people who have worked hard and I presented them with their certificates. Congratulations to you all!