During the October Youth Parliament meeting, members were lucky enough to be visited by Somerset County CEO Duncan Sharkey. Reflecting on the meeting member of the Somerset Youth Parliament Advisory Group, Abigail Amponsah has written an article on making Somerset more accessible for diverse communities.
First of all, I’d like to thank Duncan Sharkey, Somerset’s CEO, so much for driving all the way to Ilminster on a Sunday and being so open with us at our meeting. His journey from being a bookwormy teen, to studying chemistry at Bristol, to now helping people here in Somerset was a privilege to hear. It seems we could have listened to him, debated/discussed things for longer, the time went so quickly. After the meeting I reflected on a number of things and just wanted to share them.
To prepare for Sunday’s meeting I had a small snoop around his LinkedIn profile and found a repost of Mollie Puttock-Jone’s work. She was doing a final project on an anti-racism programme in Somerset Council, and I was curious if the programme has begun and if I could contribute my beliefs as somebody trying to break into policy work at Somerset Council who is an ethnic minority. I will definitely look into this further! Her programme topic really aligns with the things I want to do in the future plus the issues I may unfortunately face. I began to wonder if an anti-racism programme in Somerset Council is needed. I’d love to hear people’s thoughts!
At our meeting, near the end of the discussion Duncan spoke about not having enough people in Somerset and how that plays a big part in being able to upgrade Somerset as a whole. On reflection, I want to challenge this, referencing situations like the rise of foreign healthcare workers and pushes for more sponsored VISA’s – I believe people are queuing at the doors to reside in a county like Somerset, even if they never reach the point of applying. So, I wondered if we should be considering how to make Somerset more accessible? Duncan said that to make accessibility work through a more robust infrastructure and more responsive services “we need more people in Somerset”, and as a foreigner the subconscious clarification in my mind and most likely the eyes of other ethnic communities is that “we need more English people in Somerset” because of an unintentional lack of acknowledgement of why people leave (not accusing anyone of any overt discrimination). When we spoke about our young people leaving, Somerset, we have to consider that they do naturally seek “bigger opportunities and universities”, but I also think there is an issue around inaccessible work sectors and social biases. To me, when people want more residents, somehow in their minds the population will increase but not diversify. Immigrants move back ‘home’ due to high prices and confusing systems, and carers who cannot afford to sustain their dependents move to bigger cities in hopes of opportunity.
If we only focus on why people leave Somerset, and don’t consider why others can’t stay – I believe we’d find some solutions to help the population situation. Let me ask, if the focus is on ‘how do we get those who move for better opportunities to stay in Somerset’ (e.g. the university Councillor Bill Revans would like to create to partly address this issue), then we’d still be unable to catch the voices of those who feel they are chased out!
Duncan gave me so much to think about and reflect on, the time he spent with us passed so quickly. And I appreciate him sharing his insights and experiences, especially as he’s a very busy person!
If you have any thoughts on this article, whether you agree or not do get in touch with me through Somerset Youth Parliament. I’d love to hear from you!
Abi
Did you know that Somerset Youth Parliament isn’t just it’s elected members? Any young person in Somerset aged 10-25 years can become a member of the Somerset Youth Parliament Advisory Group.
For more information about becoming a member of the Somerset Youth Parliament Advisory Group and to join, visit our Join Us page.
