Youth Democracy

During October 2009 thirty-five young people came together at the Civic Centre, Esher, to take part in a Select Committee Day. With the help of |Citizen Arts UK the young people discussed leisure, safety and youth democracy. In the afternoon the young people put their questions to lead officers at the Council.

Over the next year impact, Elmbridge Youth Forum, will focus on the following outcomes of our select committee day:

• To try and ensure that all young people have access to information on things to do and places to go. impact will continue to promote their website and booklet, as well as the work they do.
• impact will speak directly to Surrey County Council to raise the local issues of transport within Elmbridge. impact will update the website with the progress over the next 12 months. Young people can have their say on local buses |via Surrey County Councils website.
• impact will approach local Councillors to give workshops and presentations within secondary schools across the borough.
• impact hope to work with local PCSO's to consult with young people about their safety issues which will provide further opportunities for young people to get their voices heard.
• impact have been working on a facebook and twitter group to improve communication with young people. We will update you when this process has happened!

There were questions raised on the day that impact have answered with the help of Elmbridge Officers.

Young people wanted to know where they could find information on sports opportunities for girls and boys of all ages, abilities and financial situation.

We are extremely lucking in Elmbridge to have a Sports Development Team who work incredibly hard to make sports available for everyone. One of the biggest projects they run each year is the free open trials and training for the Surrey Youth Games. Last year over 300 young people in Elmbridge were involved! You can find out the latest information |on their sports pages or |contact them directly!

Young people wanted to know where they could find services for counselling.

You should never feel alone and should always find someone to talk to. If you can't talk to your friends, family or someone at school, there are lots of organisations that deal with teen issues. We have a huge section on our website about |Personal Advice and |Surrey County Council also offer useful information.

Young people want to know where to find out information about voting.

You can visit our section on |Making a Difference that covers all topics from local issues to the British parliament. You can always |contact your local Councillor or visit |Elmbridge Borough Councils Electoral Services.

In 2007 impact created this website and |a young peoples booklet in order to make young people aware of things to do and places to go. It is clear from our youth democracy day this year that young people still don't have access to the latest events. impact try and fill their events calendar with as much information as they can as well as providing links to |youth clubs and leisure activities. Surrey County Council have created a huge website with everything that is happening across the County. |You can visit Go 2 Do for more information.

impact would like to thank all of the young people and schools supporting our Youth Democracy Day. You can always |contact us if you have a question relating to young people. We might not know the answer but we can always point you in the right direction!