Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you a blog project like no other.
Across the UK, hundreds of young people aged 11-19 are taking part in 'youth voice' - a series of projects which give teenagers the ability to discuss the things in the community that affect them, and to be a force for change. Youth councils, regional assemblies, and the UK Youth Parliament all exist to provide a link between decision makers and the young people. And they do a lot of important and incredible work.
Join any of these organisations and you'll meet a lot of inspiring people, have a lot of fun - and see that there is a lot of work to be done! Every year the Youth Parliament runs a different national campaign, whilst on the lower levels there are always councilors to meet with, promotional activities to attend and so much more.
This blog will give you a snapshot, a cross-section, of what it's like to get involved with youth voice. Don't think that my experiences are representative of everyone; some do less, some do far, far more (and it's those people that I have the most respect for). To try and get some variety in, I'll throw in the odd report on what friends of mine are doing in Essex, London, Hertfordshire, Coventry, Newcastle, Norwich and wherever else I hear something incredible worth sharing. I might even get a few guest writers in now and then for first-person reports of the action!
What else can you expect of this blog? To be sure - I don't know yet. As best as I can I'll deliver weekly updates from the Chelmsford Youth Council, along with reports of all important activity of the Young Essex Assembly, UK Youth Parliament, and National Scrutiny Group. Alongside this I'll be reporting of progress in talking with councilors regarding the impending cuts to the Essex Youth Service (stay tuned for a full report on this). Somewhere amongst all the excitement, I might just throw in a few odd ramblings here and there about youthfulness and inspiration and how to live life to the maximum. If you're lucky.
Stay tuned for what I hope will be an exciting, inspiring and well-written chain of events that will give you an idea of how the youth voice system works. And by all means, take part too! Vote, comment and check out the good work that I'll do my best to publicise.
Ahmed, myself, Emma and Kirsty at the 2013 Leeds Annual Sitting
Really good start- good luck! Sounds like a great project so will be keeping an ear to the ground for part 2!!
ReplyDelete