As representatives of young people, Somerset Youth Parliament have had and will always have an ongoing interest in young people’s safety in schools and the community. Campaigns and projects have covered policing – crime and safety, and have focussed on topics of gender violence, hate crimes, homophobia and domestic abuse. Over the last few years, the group has gathered testimonials from local victims of assault and bullying and has also spoken to various services about improving training and awareness for teachers in school.
Somerset Youth Parliament has also worked to support the Violence Reduction Partnership (VRP) on several occasions, helping them to secure grant funding, and contributing to a yearlong project on young people’s experiences and perceptions of violence.
Although they’re aware that crime rates are rising amongst and towards young people, the group also know that comparatively Somerset is much safer than nearby cities and some other counties.
Here are two YouTube films some members were involved in making for the VRP who will be sending them to schools as part of their ongoing work to counter violent behaviour in the county’s towns and villages
‘We, and Somerset Violence Reduction Partnership, are extremely grateful to Abigail, James and Lara for sharing their views’ to help create some films as part of the project and ‘we’re delighted with the way they’ve turned out.’
You can also see a third film, here in this collection on:
Lara and James
Not just elected members
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.
