Following on from the news that the Government are aiming to axe UK Youth Parliament next year, some members of the Somerset Youth Parliament Advisory Group were frustrated about criticisms and assumptions made about both UK and Somerset Youth Parliament.
In response to the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) programme costing £453,000 of taxpayers’ money, James said:
“Across the UK, that’s peanuts considering the closure of many Youth Services (and savings made as a result). There are other services which cost a lot more taxpayers money but why are youth services not valued”.
He went on to say that
“the £453,000 relates to money that goes to the National Youth Agency to manage this UK wide programme and in fact, it’s probably not enough”.
Advisory Group member Lara has been part of Somerset Youth Parliament for years and is now a trainee journalist for ITV. She arranged for James, Archie and Grace to be interviewed on the evening news to talk about the issue.
Archie, Somerset Youth Parliament Advisory Group member, said that the loss of UK Youth Parliament threatens the democratic involvement of young people, therefore
“it’s a threat to all democracy”.
Grace, Somerset Youth Parliament Advisory group member, has written a reflection on the experience:
On Monday 12 October Archie, James and I were invited to go to ITV West Country studios in Bristol to film a short section about UK Youth Parliament, and its potential closure. I was extremely grateful to Lara and the news team there for having us. It was a wonderful chance to voice why UKYP is so important to young people across the nation (and beyond!) and the challenges for youth voice if the closure goes ahead, especially when there’s still no alternative provision arranged, as the Government suggested.
Initially we were able to have a chat with presenters Alex and Bob before filming started. They were so welcoming and interested in Youth Parliament. The questions posed to us during the interview were thought provoking and encouraged us to think further about why Youth Parliament is so crucial. This was the first experience I had ever had discussing a topic on the news; however, it was amazing to be given the chance to raise awareness about Youth Parliament.
One particular point addressed by the presenters was that a lot of young people hadn’t heard of Youth Parliament (according to national statistics it’s just over a quarter). In Somerset we do have thousands of students voting in our elections every two years and we constantly promote and engage with many schools and colleges. We are very aware of the challenges getting schools on board, so our Somerset group work hard to work alongside services and decision makers – with a main goal of taking part in campaigns, interviews, networking, attending events and promoting. We use social media, our website and newsletters, to reach people and constantly reflect young people’s interests and concerns. By doing this interview one of our main goals was that young people seeing it may become more interested and hopefully get involved for Youth Parliaments national stage to survive. Personally, I was very excited to speak up about the programme, as over the last couple of years it has been a platform in which I have developed debating skills, made new friends and been a part of a wider cause which aims to benefit the lives and experiences of young people.
Going forward, we hope to take part in more interviews such as this to promote UK Youth Parliament continuing to exist, as the impact would be devastating for young people if this was no longer accessible.
In the UK, there are no other youth platforms of this kind on a national level that allow young people to collaborate in a way that improves the lives of young people. To anybody who is interested in Youth Parliament or wishes to try something new and get involved in campaigns, I encourage you to join the Somerset Youth Parliament – as we’ll continue locally, no matter what happens nationally. We are a supportive group, with a common interest in making change and would love to welcome new members.
Grace
Join us, be heard, make a difference
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.
