'Making Democracy work for young people'. Kent Youth County Council and Thanet Youth Council
Kent Youth County Council and Thanet Youth Council members will talk about their role and the local issues in Thanet that matter to them. Their presentation will focus on the sports and leisure facilities available in Thanet for young people as well as the accessibility of bus and train services. Officers from Kent County Council and Thanet District Council have been invited and will be available to answer questions.
Minutes:
Thanet KYCC members, Amy Wright, Chelsea Monks and Alice Cope introduced themselves and began by describing the role and work of KYCC.
KYCC is a non-party political organisation that focuses on the issues of young people. Any young person aged between 11 and 18 years, living within KCC boundaries may vote and stand for election. There are 48 seats available, four from each of the 12 local district or borough councils within the KCC area. Community seats for young people not in education or with disabilities have been introduced this year. Candidates may stand for election in either the district or borough where they live or go to school, college or work and are elected for one year with the option of continuing for a second year to support newly elected members.
KYCC members work closely with officers and elected members of KCC, informing them of young people’s issues and concerns. They also attend other local meetings to get heard about issues that matter to them. Some attend Youth Advisory Group meetings, local youth forums and regularly meet with the Kent Youth Service Senior Management Team to support and advise them in order to improve services for young people.
Each local authority is able to send representatives to the UK Youth Parliament – KYCC has elected seven of its members to the UKYP to take Kent issues to the national sitting.
Some KYCC members have been involved in deciding how the Youth Opportunity Fund distributes money to different groups of young people to make a difference to their lives. For example, the Youth Capital Fund has given money to buy mini buses, skate parks like the one in Ashford and youth centres across the county. Over £1.2m has been allocated.
KYCC is also involved in an Exchange programme called 4Way Youth Exchange with Estonia, Finland and Germany which enables members to visit and share experiences with young people from these countries and find out more about their youth participation. Other activities include team building and developing skills for the future.
Nigel Cross, Youth Developer from Thanet District Council then spoke about the work of Thanet Youth Council members. (Unfortunately the TYC member planned to speak had been taken unwell.) Thanet Youth Council has been established for 11 years, is independently funded by the Lottery and, like KYCC is non political. To be a member you have to be aged 11-20 years and live in Thanet. The main forum comprises 25 people with a Chair and Vice Chair and its aim is to promote the benefit of young people in Thanet by enabling them to develop citizenship skills and to be represented within the democratic and decision-making processes of Thanet. TYC is based at the Quarterdeck Youth Centre in Margate and they have a number of sub groups covering transport, sport, etc and get involved in various consultation events e.g. the Safe Citizen Conference at the Winter Gardens attended by 300 young people. Other activities include team building, public speaking, ... view the full minutes text for item 3