I know I promised a post every night for a while, however, unfortunately, I have'n been able to keep up with that. I'm still posting though. For todays post, I am writing about the recent work that my other volunteering, North Yorkshire Youth Council have been doing. I have been involved with youth council on one form or another since 2011, however, in the last year or so, have had the opportunity to represent Flying High (see my previous post for this) on county level.
The North Yorkshire Youth Council is currently working on two campaigns, one which they have adopted from the Youth Parliament and the other which is a local issue. In that order, A Curriculum for Life and Ride Around for £1 are the two that we have been focusing on.
Ride Around For £1 (RA4£1)
Ride Around for £1 has been a scheme which has won a National Bus Award (Yes, they do actually exist) and has made transport cheaper for people up to the age of 19 in the county. Additionally, it has massively increased the number of young people using public transport in the area. The campaign, aside from the environmental benefits, i.e. that there are fewer cars on the road, the scheme has proved to be financially beneficial for both sides. While making transport cheaper, it has also been a benefit to the bus companies who are, in the long-term, making more money from a generation that may not otherwise use public transport.
The campaign, despite winning awards and being beneficially to both sides, although we have no proof of this, I believe has been a boost to the businesses in the towns and villages that many of the participating services go to. Additionally, for students who live or study in Darlington, the area I represent for Team V, it works there too. On the other hand, this is only on about two services. I suppose this is perhaps just something I'm saying because it massively benefits me, however, it is useful.
A Curriculum For Life (C4L)
Moving onto "A Curriculum for Life", we have been feeding into the work that is going on nationally to get engaging and substantial Health, Financial and Political Education for secondary school students. Although these topics are already being taught in many schools, the key word here is "engaging". At the moment, much of this education is purely theory based, however, the fact is that (with the exception of one topic) practical activities are needed to make it memorable and useful for the students in question. In this, we are making progress but slowly. Perhaps Michael Gove should take the example of what they do in America, actually taking people out to practice these skills in everyday situations.
Other things we are working on
In recent months, the youth council has learnt of cuts to the Children & Young Peoples Services budget that will effectively mean the destruction of the youth service in North Yorkshire. Although these are not yet confirmed, it is likely to mean the closure of almost every youth club in the county. This is a massive loss for the young people and I am glad to say that many people are willing to stand up for the youth clubs and staff that they value so much. In recent months, I have begun to realize that the youth clubs are the lifeblood of young people in the county and I am very proud to see the youth council at least making an attempt to save them.
A cut is inevitable, however, in my local area, Richmond, we are drawing up a plan for some of the youth work to be taken on by volunteers. The plan is that we fund training and they run the youth clubs where possible. On county level, we are still not sure what the plan is, however, we know we care about the youth service and we want to do something in an effort to lessen the impact on the young people that care about the clubs so much.
Getting back to the general work of the Youth Council, I am very proud to be a member of such an organisation and admire the attitude that other Members of the Youth Council have taken to the issues that we are currently working on. It shows that these volunteers are not just doing it for the hours and experience and truly care about what matters to young people in the county. Whether we succeed is another matter, however, we can only try.
I will try to keep you up to date on what is going on with NYYC, however, it depends how busy I am. I am very proud of the achievement so far but as I wrote on something else, earlier today, these are steps towards a final aim. We need to keep on walking
The North Yorkshire Youth Council is currently working on two campaigns, one which they have adopted from the Youth Parliament and the other which is a local issue. In that order, A Curriculum for Life and Ride Around for £1 are the two that we have been focusing on.
Ride Around For £1 (RA4£1)
Ride Around for £1 has been a scheme which has won a National Bus Award (Yes, they do actually exist) and has made transport cheaper for people up to the age of 19 in the county. Additionally, it has massively increased the number of young people using public transport in the area. The campaign, aside from the environmental benefits, i.e. that there are fewer cars on the road, the scheme has proved to be financially beneficial for both sides. While making transport cheaper, it has also been a benefit to the bus companies who are, in the long-term, making more money from a generation that may not otherwise use public transport.
The campaign, despite winning awards and being beneficially to both sides, although we have no proof of this, I believe has been a boost to the businesses in the towns and villages that many of the participating services go to. Additionally, for students who live or study in Darlington, the area I represent for Team V, it works there too. On the other hand, this is only on about two services. I suppose this is perhaps just something I'm saying because it massively benefits me, however, it is useful.
A Curriculum For Life (C4L)
Moving onto "A Curriculum for Life", we have been feeding into the work that is going on nationally to get engaging and substantial Health, Financial and Political Education for secondary school students. Although these topics are already being taught in many schools, the key word here is "engaging". At the moment, much of this education is purely theory based, however, the fact is that (with the exception of one topic) practical activities are needed to make it memorable and useful for the students in question. In this, we are making progress but slowly. Perhaps Michael Gove should take the example of what they do in America, actually taking people out to practice these skills in everyday situations.
Other things we are working on
In recent months, the youth council has learnt of cuts to the Children & Young Peoples Services budget that will effectively mean the destruction of the youth service in North Yorkshire. Although these are not yet confirmed, it is likely to mean the closure of almost every youth club in the county. This is a massive loss for the young people and I am glad to say that many people are willing to stand up for the youth clubs and staff that they value so much. In recent months, I have begun to realize that the youth clubs are the lifeblood of young people in the county and I am very proud to see the youth council at least making an attempt to save them.
A cut is inevitable, however, in my local area, Richmond, we are drawing up a plan for some of the youth work to be taken on by volunteers. The plan is that we fund training and they run the youth clubs where possible. On county level, we are still not sure what the plan is, however, we know we care about the youth service and we want to do something in an effort to lessen the impact on the young people that care about the clubs so much.
Getting back to the general work of the Youth Council, I am very proud to be a member of such an organisation and admire the attitude that other Members of the Youth Council have taken to the issues that we are currently working on. It shows that these volunteers are not just doing it for the hours and experience and truly care about what matters to young people in the county. Whether we succeed is another matter, however, we can only try.
I will try to keep you up to date on what is going on with NYYC, however, it depends how busy I am. I am very proud of the achievement so far but as I wrote on something else, earlier today, these are steps towards a final aim. We need to keep on walking
No comments:
Post a Comment