Friday 15 December 2017

Merry Christmas from the Youth Cabinet

At last night's final Youth Cabinet meeting of 2017, we met with Vale of Glamorgan Council Officer Hannah Davies  to learn more about the Council's budget and how there is a need to change the way services are provided.  This video below gives you a good overview of the current situation and how the Council are looking for new ways of working.  If you have any good ideas make sure you let the Council know by completing the current budget consultation.





For the rest of the meeting we went through the agenda and discussed some ongoing areas of work including the Welsh Bacc.  Good news ..... Welsh Government and WJEC are attending our meeting in January so we will be able to have more of an update then!

We are also progressing with trying to increase the number of work experience opportunities available within the Council and did a bit of fact finding about the current workforce.  Did you know the Council employs over 5000 people - we didn't! We also discussed the Council's Rights of Way Improvement Plan which looks at encouraging more people to access the countryside via footpaths and bridleways.

It's become tradition for the Youth Cabinet to do Secret Santa at our Christmas meeting and it was exciting to share our gifts with each other at the end!

We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and an amazing 2018!


FIS Christmas Party

This week I attended the Family Information Service (FIS) Christmas Party at Barry Leisure Centre.  At the event there were many stalls showing services in the Vale of Glamorgan for children, young people and families.  I helped out at the Youth Service stall which offered fun activities for children, as well as raising awareness about the projects that it runs including the Youth Cabinet!  Although there were many more children than young people at the event, being able to talk to them and representatives from other organisations was beneficial.  I've been able to make plans to visit organisations in the future such as Rhoose Homework Club!

At the event I also had the opportunity to speak to the Council's Rural Regeneration Team and learn more about the Council's plans to improve broadband connectivity in the Vale.  This relates to my manifesto, and in the New Year I'm hoping to find out some more information from young people about what they want with regards to digital technology and digital connectivity. 





Monday 4 December 2017

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.   


Wednesday 29 November 2017

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.




     

Wednesday 22 November 2017

Pupil Well-being

Improving pupil well-being is something the youth cabinet feel very strongly about.  We know the difficulties young people face and the pressures we are under in schools, at home and with our friends, and it’s no wonder things can get too much for us to handle sometimes.

That’s why this week, as the Youth Mayor I attended the Pupil Well-being conference run by the Healthy Schools Network and the Vale of Glamorgan Council.  It was a very interesting event with a lot of information about ways schools and health services can support young people.

During the morning session I learnt about the way the council uses SELFIE, a tool to measure pupil well-being and how the results are used to gain an overall picture of pupil well-being and identify those who may need extra support.  There were also examples from Gladstone Primary school and Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Morgannwg about the amazing work they do in their school such as the CWTCH  Room and the Nurture Room.

During the afternoon I visited many stalls and made contact with organisations that will help the youth cabinet learn more about services available to us. We then had a presentation about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and watched the film Resilience which showed how ACES impact our lives.

I’m hoping to arrange for the youth cabinet to take a closer look at the SELFIE data which may help us in the work we do. After all, everyone wants young people to achieve the top grades but that’s only going to happen when young people want to learn and want to go school and are happy when they’re there.

Friday 10 November 2017

Armistice Day 2017

It was a privilege to attend the Vale of Glamorgan Council Armistice Day ceremony to lay a wreath on behalf of young people in the county as well as pay our respects to those who fought for this country and sacrificed everything.  #Lestweforget 


UKYP 2017

The UK Youth Parliament met in the House of Commons today to discuss the top voted issues in the Make Your Mark campaign. Members of UK Youth Parliament (MYPs) attended the Annual Sitting, representing different regions and countries across the UK.  It was an honour to be part of the Welsh group and thanks to Young Wales for organising the two-day residential.  

The top 5 issues discussed were: Protect LGBT+ People; Votes at 16; Work Experience Hubs for 11-18 year olds; Transport; and A Curriculum for Life.  After hours of debates, with myself speaking about A Curriculum for Life, we voted for the national and devolved campaign priorities for 2018.

National priority - Votes at 16
Devolved priority - Curriculum for Life

Overall, it was an amazing experience and it was so interesting listening to MYPs talk about issues important to them and their constituents.  I, along with the other MYPs will try our hardest to make progress within these topics, especially as these two were also among the top voted issues within the Vale of Glamorgan.



Tuesday 7 November 2017

9 Councillors, 1 evening!

Last night the we had our first official meeting with the Vale of Glamorgan Cabinet.  As this was our first meeting we had lots to discuss and a few issues to raise that young people have been voicing across the Vale.

The main things discussed included giving Cabinet an update on our work so far and discussing our action plan for 2017-18.  We talked about the difficulties young people face in balancing exam stress and the pressures we face in our education, with positive well-being and mental health.  Also, on the agenda was gender equality in PE.  This issue was raised at the Vale Youth Forum by members who felt there was not equality of opportunity across all secondary schools in the Vale regarding the PE curriculum.       

We also presented the official Make Your Mark results and discussed how departments within the Council can take this information on board in the work they do.  We also asked Cabinet to consider taking a Votes at 16 motion to Council - to debate and vote whether the Vale of Glamorgan Council would support lowering the voting age to 16 and 17 in local elections.  We are looking forward to hearing back on this soon!

Following the joint meeting, we met with the Youth Champion, Cllr Leighton Rowlands, and Cllr Owen Griffiths.  As two of the youngest councillors in the Vale we shared our views on a variety of issues, whilst also updating them on our work.  If was really helpful to hear their perspectives and how supportive they are of encouraging young people to get involved in decision-making! 



Monday 23 October 2017

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.

  

Tuesday 17 October 2017

A new Youth Mayor 2017-18

At the Vale Youth Forum meeting last night, the Leader of the Council, Cllr John Thomas, and the Deputy Vale Mayor and Youth Champion, Cllr Leighton Rowlands, announced the results of the Youth Mayor election.

Niclas Want, aged 18 from Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Morgannwg was elected Youth Mayor 2017-18 and stated: “It has been fantastic to see the high turnout, and young people getting engaged with the vote.  I am excited to be working with the Council and young people across the Vale in the next year.”

Daley Chapman, aged 16 from Barry Comprehensive, was elected Deputy Youth Mayor 2017-18 and said: “I am happy to be re-elected and the number of votes cast this year.  I am looking forward to visiting young people across the Vale and listening to their views.” 

Elections had been held during Local Democracy Week (9th-13th October) across the Vale of Glamorgan in schools, youth clubs and youth organisations.  Young people aged 11-25 had the opportunity to vote.  This is the fourth year the Vale Youth Service have run the election campaign, and 4766 young people voted.  What a great turn out!

The new Youth Mayor and Deputy will work with the Youth Cabinet and young people across the Vale for the next year.   



Monday 16 October 2017

Make Your Mark 2017

The results from the Make Your Mark ballot 2017 are in ...

A total of 4577 young people across the Vale of Glamorgan voted in this year's campaign either within their schools, youth clubs or youth organisations.  First of all a big thank you to those who voted, but also members of the Vale Youth Forum and Youth Action Groups in Penarth, Barry and Llantwit, who encouraged young people to get involved and vote for their top issue.

As Members of the UK Youth Parliament (MYP) we will do our best to ensure decision-makers take the results on board.  We are currently writing a report on the campaign and the results and we will then decide how we will be working on the most important topics voted for by young people across the Vale.

So what was the most important issue to young people in the Vale of Glamorgan? 

Topic
Number of Votes
A curriculum to prepare us for life
850
Votes at 16
459
Protect LGBT+ People
560
Support for Young Carers
145
Transport
746
First aid Education for all young people
396
Mental Health
479
Make the invisible visible
226
Protect schools budgets from damaging cuts
159
Work experience hubs  for 11-18 year olds
557
Total
4577


The UK wide results are yet to be announced, but they will be debated at the UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting at Westminster in November, where a national priority will be voted on.

We will also be working on some of the issues on a more local level through the Vale Youth Forum.  We are currently discussing this at our meeting tonight and it looks like we are likely to focus on transport.

We promise to keep you updated.

Thanks,
Ushenka (MYP) & Ben (DMYP)


Monday 9 October 2017

Meet & Greet

Tonight's meeting started with an informal meet & greet with the Vale of Glamorgan Cabinet.  This is the first time we met them as a group since the election.  We were paired up with a Cabinet Member and got to know one another and learnt more about each others roles.  We then delivered a presentation about the purpose of the youth cabinet and we got to share our ideas on what we would do if we were the Leader of the Council for a day.  We all felt like the Cabinet members were interested in the work we do and we look forward to working with them in the future. 

Following our meet & greet, we held our normal monthly meeting.  The topics discussed were Local Democracy Week, where we had the opportunity to vote for the next Youth Mayor and we found out where elections are being held all week. We looked at the Make Your Mark results for the Vale which will be published soon and discussed how some issues might link to our work.  We also had an extensive discussion about the Welsh Baccalaureate where we expressed the strong contempt amongst young people surrounding the subject.  This is to become a topic for us to work on as it ties in with many other issues facing young people today.



Thursday 5 October 2017

Who will be the next Youth Mayor?

It's nearly that time of year again, where young people in the Vale have the opportunity to vote for their Youth Mayor.  Local Democracy Week (LDW) takes place between 9th and 13th October 2017 and the Youth Mayor elections is one way we can make young people aware of their local council and encourage them to have their say about their local communities.

This year, three members of the Youth Cabinet are standing for election and want to become the Youth Mayor for 2017-18.  Niclas Want, Ushenka Rajapakse and Daley Chapman need your votes if they are to be successful.

At the Vale Youth Forum (VYF) meeting on Monday 2nd October, the three candidates took part in a hustings.  A hustings, is similar to a question time event, and VYF members had the opportunity to find out more about the candidates manifestos and ask them challenging questions.

Your candidates said:

"The hustings were a good opportunity for us to voice our plans, and to make us think hard about what we want to work on.  We covered many topics and we all debated convincingly.  I hope this opens doors to look at larger hustings for future elections."

"Although I opposed the hustings to begin with, it was a good opportunity to put an actual manifesto out there, and to see what VYF members thought of our ideas.  Answering questions from members was fantastic because it makes you think about your own ideas. We should definitely do it again on a bigger scale!"       





Monday 18 September 2017

A new term begins!

Tonight we had our first youth cabinet meeting of the term and we welcomed the two new youth cabinet members, Ben and Ushenka, to the team.  As new members they also had an induction session where they learnt more about the workings of the council, the different roles and responsibilities of Elected Members and how the youth cabinet works with Cabinet Members to ensure the views of young people influence positive change.  

During the youth cabinet meeting we discussed Local Democracy Week when a new Youth Mayor will be voted by young people across the Vale and we discussed strategies to make the voting system equal for all candidates.  We also took part in the current Estyn consultation looking into youth support services in Wales.  Overall, it was an interesting first meeting to start the term.

Monday 11 September 2017

Welcome to the team!

Hello, we are Ben and Ushenka, we are the two new members of the Youth Cabinet who have been successfully elected by members of the Vale Youth Forum at tonight's meeting.  We are both 15 years old and from Cowbridge Comprehensive School.  We have both been on the Vale Youth Forum for over a year and are really passionate about ensuring the views of young people are heard by decision-makers.  We're both looking forward to our first meeting and getting involved straight away!  




Friday 11 August 2017

A visit to the Mayor's Parlour

Recently we were invited to meet the Vale Mayor, Cllr Janice Charles and Deputy Mayor, Cllr Leighton Rowlands, at the Mayor's Parlour in Kings Square, Barry.   We talked about what it is like being Deputy Youth Mayor and the work of the Youth Cabinet over the last year.  The Mayor and Deputy Mayor also suggested ways the Youth Mayor and Youth Cabinet should publicise the work they do and how we can promote ourselves more to young people.  They were both very interested in the work we do and keen to continue to support us in the work we do.  We also found out what it involves being the Vale Mayor and Deputy and how they get involved in the local community and support local residents. It was a very interesting meeting and we are glad we had the chance to meet the Mayor and Deputy who is also the Youth Champion and we think it's great that they are both taking a keen interest in young people in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Saturday 5 August 2017

Fecamp 2017

For the past week as Deputy Youth Mayor I have been on a youth exchange with youth councillors from the Vale Youth Forum, Llantwit Youth Council, Barry Youth Action and Penarth Youth Action. The exchange had been organised to bring together young people from the different countries twinned with the Vale of Glamorgan - Fecamp in France, Mouscron in Belgium, Rheinfelden in Germany and Putnok in Hungary also took part even though they are not twinned with the Vale.

The twinning exchange took place in Fecamp and I knew from the start that it was going to be an unforgettable experience.  Throughout the week we took part in a variety of activities to learn more about French culture and the seaside town, Fecamp.  We met the Mayor and members of the twinning committee too.  We went on a sailing ship, walked along the beautiful cliffs, visited a smoked fish factory, went rowing and learnt about the wildlife along the coast.  We all had so much fun!

Throughout the week we also worked on designing and creating a sculpture for the Fecamp twinning garden which was officially opened on the last day and followed by a farewell party.  Thank you to Michelle who organised the week and invited young people from the Vale, it was amazing.  We all laughed so much and it was great to meet so many different people and make new friends from across Europe!

 

Thursday 20 July 2017

Emoji's Presentation

Tonight I attended the Emoji's Presentation evening at the Barry YMCA.  It's a fantastic project for young people to get involved in.  They all received their Awards tonight for completing the 10 week project course and all of the young people, staff and family members were very proud of everyone. We watched a video that the young people made about the project which was brilliant.  An amazing project and a worthy cause!!




Friday 14 July 2017

Youth Satisfaction Report

The Youth Satisfaction Report which has been written by the Youth Cabinet has been officially published.  The report outlines the results of the Youth Satisfaction Survey that we designed so that young people who attend different youth clubs and provisions could give feedback on their experiences.

Following the results, the Youth Service can analyse what young people think and how they are meeting the requirements set out in the Youth Offer.  The results highlight very positive aspects about the Youth Service but also areas of improvement to ensure youth clubs and provisions cater to the needs of young people.  By carrying out this piece of work the Youth Cabinet have also achieved a Level 2 qualification in Young People's Participation.


Tuesday 11 July 2017

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.

Saturday 1 July 2017

Scouts Fete

It's been a pleasure to be invited to the Barry Scouts Fete today. The weather is absolutely stunning and the parade was even better! Also not forgetting all the wonderful stalls and activities on offer for everyone. Hope you will all have a great day!

Thursday 25 May 2017

Vale AGM

Last night we attended the Vale of Glamorgan Annual General Meeting.  At the meeting the newly elected councillors elected a new Mayor and Deputy Mayor for 2017-2018.

The Vale councillors also elected a new Leader of the Council who then announced the new Cabinet and their responsibilities which are set out in portfolios.

After the meeting we spoke to some of the newly elected Councillors.  It was great to promote the Youth Cabinet to the new Youth Champion who is also Deputy Vale Mayor, the new Leader of the Council and the new Cabinet Member for Education and Culture.

We are looking forward to our first joint meeting with the new Cabinet this term.






Tuesday 2 May 2017

Accreditation

At tonight's meeting we finally finished our ACU workbook: Young People's Participation - Having a Voice.  Over the last couple of months we have been working towards this qualification and have created a survey to find out what young people think of the Vale Youth Service and the youth clubs and projects they attend.

Along the way we have learnt about the importance of involving young people in decision-making, the benefits of consultation and also how to overcome barriers to ensuring young people's voices are heard.  Tonight we completed the final part of the workbook and reflected on the consultation process. We are looking forward to presenting our findings to the Youth Service and the report will be ready soon!


Tuesday 11 April 2017

Easter meeting

At this month's meeting we fed back from Jane Hutt's Spring Breakfast which put an emphasis on apprenticeships in STEM areas. We also talked about the Emoji's project presentation evening and the Healthy and Safe event to which we had sent a video explaining the importance of supporting young people affected by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).

We discussed our attendance at the Carwyn Connect evening and discussed our views on increasing the use of the Welsh language through pride and inspiration rather than force.  We are also pleased we have been asked to write the foreword for the Trans Inclusion Toolkit which is being developed by the Council.  And we are excited to be invited to a youth exchange this summer in Fecamp.

At tonight's meeting we completed the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales' SenseMaker Survey, discussing the main challenges facing Wales in the future and looking at the 4 challenges that have been identified by the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales.  We also discussed the results of the Youth Satisfaction Survey and we are beginning to write a report on our findings.

Monday 3 April 2017

Carwyn Connect

Three youth cabinet members had the opportunity to attend Carwyn Connect in Barry and had the chance to take part in a Q&A session with the First Minister.  The room was packed and with protesters outside the building protesting the new incinerator in Barry we knew it would be an interesting evening!  Although the incinerator was a hot topic we all had the opportunity to ask our questions to the First Minister:

  1. Does the assembly have plans to aid in the day to day integration of the Welsh language in our country? 
  2. Will there be any changes regarding how the Welsh Government / National Assembly is run due to the recent triggering of article 50?
  3. What are the Assembly's plans for introducing votes at 16 especially with the new Wales Bill, and how is the assembly going to ensure that young people have sufficient political knowledge to enable them to vote?  
And here's an overview of what the First Minister responded: 
  1. The biggest challenge is young people speaking Welsh outside a school environment.  We've been successful in getting more children to go to Welsh schools but not speak outside them in a natural way.  We've opened after school clubs for a more natural environment.
  2. We can't change the vote and the best thing to do is to work hard on maintaining the Welsh identity.  What will happen to the UK is unsure and is really in the hands of other countries like Germany.  There will be no immediate change to the Senedd so far.  
  3. A vote will be held in the Senedd to allow 16 year olds to vote.  'Fake News' makes it difficult for young people to be genuinely informed.  A worry is that young people will make and form their political beliefs from poor sources.  This does not just affect young people but all ages.  
     

Friday 31 March 2017

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!    


Thursday 30 March 2017

Adverse Childhood Experiences

So what are Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)?

At a recent youth cabinet meeting we discussed ACEs and the impact they have on the lives of children and young people in Wales.  As explained by Public Health Wales, "ACEs are stressful experiences occurring during childhood that directly harm a child (e.g. sexual or physical abuse) or affect the environment in which they live (e.g. growing up in a house with domestic violence)."

As a youth cabinet we realised that a lot of the issues that affect young people and the work we do directly links to ACEs and it was great to have the opportunity to show our film about this at the Healthy & Safe event run for teachers and professionals who work with children and young people at risk of ACEs.





Tuesday 21 March 2017

Pupil Voice Conference

The annual Pupil Voice conference was held at Barry Memorial Hall and all secondary school councils were invited to attend.  It was great to see so many school council members from Barry Comprehensive, Bryn Hafren, Stanwell, Llantwit School and Cowbridge Comprehensive at the event.
To start off the day, school council members were presented with the results of the bi-annual school council audit where both teachers and young people were able to give their views on the running of the school council.  This also included some results of the recent Viewpoint survey run by the Council.  Below you can see some of main results from school council members. 

Throughout the day school council members all took part in a UNCRC workshop delivered by the Rights Ambassadors and learnt more about children's rights.  There was another workshop on the Children and Young People's National Participation Standards and everyone got to learn more about the different ways young people can have a voice locally and nationally, ranging from Youth Action Groups to becoming a Member of UK Youth Parliament.  Young people involved in these projects helped deliver these workshops too.  

There was also a Q&A session with the Youth Mayor and Deputy Youth Mayor which was great because we got to meet lots of young people that we represent. Everyone asked challenging questions but hopefully Daley an I are more informed on what matters to young people and how we can keep school council up to date and be more representative in the future.    

In the afternoon, officers from the Council attended to raise awareness of the Well-being of Future Generations Act and carried out some activities to find out what pupils want from the Vale in the future.  

I hope that all who attended had a great time and found the day both fun and informative.  I thoroughly enjoyed delivering a workshop and raising awareness of the Vale Youth Forum and Youth Cabinet.  Hopefully the event will inspire future members of the participation groups.    














Thursday 9 March 2017

Engineering Change

We'd like to thank Jane Hutt AM for inviting us to her annual Spring Breakfast this morning which took place at Cardiff and Vale College's International Centre for Aerospace Training (ICAT) at Cardiff Airport Business Park.

The theme for this year was 'Engineering Change' with a focus on encouraging more young people into STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) courses, apprenticeships, jobs and future career opportunities, particularly females who are under-represented in these fields.

Jane Hutt AM and guest speaker Julie James AM, Minister for Skills and Science talked about the work being done by Welsh Government to encourage more opportunities for young people and the links being made between education and business to ensure we have the skills needed for the future.

It was also interesting to hear from the private sector and local employers such as Sony, Aston Martin, Dow Corning and British Airways Maintenance Cardiff who offer amazing opportunities for young people whether that be school visits to inspire pupils or apprenticeships and training opportunities that you couldn't find anywhere else.      




Wednesday 8 March 2017

Youth Service Bronze Quality Mark

Tonight we had a different type of meeting on the VPOD! We met with assessors who are inspecting the Youth Service as they are in the process of applying for the Bronze Quality Mark for Youth Work in Wales.

We discussed the role of the youth cabinet, the work we do in the local community and the impact we have by ensuring the voices of young people are listened to by decision-makers.  We promoted our current area of work\; the youth satisfaction survey, and how we are in the process of piloting the survey in local youth provisions to find out what young people think of the Youth Service.  We hope that this survey will be used as an annual evaluation tool to ensure the voices of young people are listened to.  We also mentioned the accreditation we are working towards, an Agored Cymru Unit in 'Young People's Participation - Having a Voice' as well the support we all receive from our youth workers.

Good luck to the Youth Service in gaining the Bronze Quality Mark!


Joint meeting

This evening we had our termly meeting with the Council's Cabinet.  We discussed our progress and main areas of work since our last meeting.  They were impressed with our work and were very supportive of the youth satisfaction survey we have been working on.

We also discussed the UK Youth Parliament's Votes at 16 campaign and the possibility of the council supporting the campaign in the future.  Today it's International Woman's Day and we discussed the importance of gender equality and the ways in which the youth cabinet can promote gender equality in the work we do.

This was our last meeting before the local elections and so possibly the last time we'll be meeting with Cabinet so we'd like to thank them for all their support and work we've jointly achieved since we started the youth cabinet in 2014.  

Tuesday 7 March 2017

HM Lord Lieutenant

Tonight we attended a reception for the HM Lord Lieutenant of South Glamorgan at the Mayor's Parlour.  We would like to thank the Mayor of the Vale, Cllr Stuart Egan, for inviting us to the reception where HM Lord Lieutenant, Mrs Morfudd Ann Meredith was officially welcomed to the role.

We met representatives and ambassadors of residents living in the Vale such as the Deputy Mayor of the Vale, Mayor of Llantwit and HM Deputy Lord Lieutenant.  It was great to represent young people at the event and promote the work of the Youth Cabinet and Vale Youth Forum.

Did you know? - HM Lord Lieutenant is appointed by the Queen and is a representative of the Queen.  It is the Lord Lieutenant's responsibility to organise all Royal visits to the local area and escort any member of the Royal Family on the day of the visit.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/lord-lieutenant-of-south-glamorgan-morfudd-meredith.

Tuesday 21 February 2017

Young Wales Annual Conference #YWCI2017


On 21.02.17 the Youth Mayor and members of the Vale Youth Forum went to the annual Young Wales conference at the Future Inn Hotel in Cardiff.  Around 120 young people from across Wales trekked to attend the conference but luckily for us we only had a half hour drive.

To kick off the day there was a presentation on all the work Young Wales had done throughout the year,this included the work on UK Youth Parliament and much more.  The event was hosted and organised by young people with help from support workers, young people even ran some of the exciting workshops we attended throughout the day.

There were four workshops on; the curriculum review; Well-being of Future Generations Act; anti-bullying; and resilience and well-being.  All the workshops were every interesting and sparked debates on a wide range of issues and it was good to listen to other young people's views on these issues.  After a delicious lunch we had a talk from the Children's Commissioner for Wales, Sally Holland, who updated us on her work and we created a hug paper chain full of pledges to promote the UNCRC locally which was great fun.  Also she mentioned the Vale Rights Ambassadors during her talk, as an example of a way young people and youth services are promoting the UNCRC!!

The event ended with a Q&A session with four decision-makers in Wales which included two Assembly Members, the Chief Executive of Children in Wales and Sally Holland.  There were lots of questions posted to the panel from young people in the audience on a range of topics.  Overall it was a great day for everyone who attended!


Wednesday 15 February 2017

District Commissioner Tir a Môr

At tonight's meeting the District Commissioner Tir a Môr for Barry and Vale Scouts gave us a presentation about Scouting and the opportunities available to young people living in Barry and the Vale.  We learnt more about the different groups available from Cubs to Explorers and the different activities young people can get involved in.  We are looking forward to working with the District's Young Leaders and would like to wish them luck with their #YouShape mission! 

At the meeting we also finalised the youth satisfaction survey which we will be piloting in different youth clubs and provisions over the next couple of weeks.  We also looked at the revised School Transport Code of Practice which will be coming out to schools soon!  And we are looking forward to meeting officials from Atkin Associates ahead of the Vale Youth Service's Bronze Quality Mark inspection in March. 


Wednesday 1 February 2017

School Transport Update

Today we met with Councillor Peter King, Cabinet Member for Building Services, Highways and Transportation, the Safeguarding Officer and the Passenger Transport Manager of the Council to review our school transport report that we carried out in 2015. It has been just over a year since we made our recommendations and we reviewed our action plan with the officers responsible and were updated on all aspects.

We found out that since a new operator has been providing school transport, the transport teams who have been carrying out spot checks and introduced head counts on school buses, have noted improvements in cleanliness and punctuality.

Also, as we took part in the consultation on the new School Transport Policy we were informed that this will be implemented in September 2017. The main changes to the policy are; if you are in post 16 education you will only be supplied transport to your education provision in the Vale, Bridgend and Cardiff and if you are awarded free school transport in error you will only be covered until the end of term.

As a youth cabinet we have also been involved in the ongoing development of the Welsh Government Travel Behaviour Code which we shared with everyone. It is now updated and we have put forward our views that it should be distributed across the Vale and students should be actively made aware of it.

Finally we also brought up the issue about school transport to Llantwit High school from the Eglwys Brewis estate in St Athan which was recently raised at a Vale Youth Forum meeting. It was discussed that the route is available under the Welsh Government guidelines and a variety of options have been suggested to concerned parents.

Friday 20 January 2017

UKYP Day of Action

Today is the UK Youth Parliament Day of Action ...

Members of Youth Parliament (MYP's) for the Vale of Glamorgan and Cardiff and the chair of the Vale Youth Forum went to Cardiff Bay to have a meeting with Stephen Doughty MP to discuss the national priority - Votes at 16! Over 112,000 young people who took part in the recent Make Your Mark consultation voted to give 16 and 17 year olds a vote and it was voted as the national priority by over 300 MYPs at the annual sitting in November.

Our first job as MYPs is to get as much support for the campaign as possible including local politicians and decision-makers.

After discussing the topic is was very clear that Stephen Doughty, MP for Cardiff South & Penarth supports Votes at 16 and has been a champion for many years now.  So we didn't have much of a job to do in trying to get him to support our campaign! He was very happy to listen and see what we had to say on the topic.

We updated him on what the Vale Youth Forum and Cardiff Youth Council had been up to lately and the main priorities for young people locally.  All of his responses to our questions were really interesting and it caught our attention that he used to be a member of a Youth Parliament himself and also attended a comprehensive school in the Vale.

As MYPs we are now looking towards working on the next step, which will further promote the importance of votes@16 for young people and raise awareness of the current UKYP campaign.


Tuesday 17 January 2017

Happy New Year!

Today we had our first youth cabinet meeting of 2017.  We took part in the consultation - 'Should the NAfW change its name?' which you can also take part in here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/AssemblyName.  We discussed the different options the Senedd could change its name to such as the Welsh Parliament or Parliament for Wales but we wondered how long this would take and how much money it would cost?

Daley, Dan and Bronwen received Millennium Volunteer certificates for completing 200 and 100 hours of volunteering as Youth Councillors in the Vale (whoop!) and we also discussed the proposal of the new South Wales Metro.  We will try to find out some more information about this and ensure young people have a say on the proposals because we know transport for young people in the Vale was voted one of the top issues in the recent Mark Your Mark ballot.

We want to take this opportunity to thank you for reading our blog as your support is what makes us do what we do.  In 2017 we will work hard to represent the views of young people and improve things for them.  We are grateful for your support.  Happy New Year!