Vale Youth Forum Newsletter

C r e a t e d b y V Y F m e m b e r s

F O R M O R E D E T A I L P L E A S E C O N T A C T V A L E Y O U T H F O R U M @ H O T M A I L . C O . U K R E G I S T E R E D C H A R I T Y N O . 1 0 8 2 2 0 5

Hello from the Chair and Vice Chair of the Vale Youth Forum. Welcome to ourwinter newsletter that covers January to March 2018. We've had many guestspeakers attend our meetings this term and have been able to tell them whatyoung people think about the services they provide which has been a greatopportunity. We'd like to congratulate the new members that completed the

induction training and hope they are enjoying being involved in the VYF.

At the beginning of the term members took part in a teambuilding day at Barry Island Quasar. We had previouslyplanned to go ice skating at Ice Central in Barry in Decemberbut unfortunately it closed before our last meeting. In quasarwe were able to work in teams and battle to win each other'sterritory. We had lots of fun and it was great way to get backtogether after the Christmas break. Thanks to the trustees!

The first thing on our list this term was to raise the issue of transport. This was voted as the top issue for young people in the Vale in the MakeYour Mark ballot. We invited the Councils transport services GroupManager to attend one of our meetings to learn more about howtransport is provided locally. We learnt about the different commercialservices provided by Cardiff Bus, N.A.T & First, services supportedfinancially by the Council and Greenlinks community transport. BecauseGreenlinks rely on volunteers to provide the service, the service doesn'tcater to young people and it is mostly older people from the rural areawho use the service. We were able to express the concerns raised byyoung people regarding the cost of transport and frequency of buses. We also learnt about the new South Wales Metro system and howtransport services will become joined up and hopefully more efficient. We were also able to distribute the annual transport satisfaction surveycarried out by the Council to ensure as many young people couldcontribute as possible.

VYF Roles:

Jan - March 2018 Page 1

Nikita Harrhy - Media Officer Isaac Cramb - Diversity & Equality Officer Ushenka Rajapakse - Member of UK YouthParliament Ben Lloyd - Deputy Member of UK Youth Parliament Rhys Powell - Young Wales Representative Osian Boland - Young Wales Representative Nishenka Rajapakse - Young Wales Representative

January was a busy month for our Members of UKYouth Parliament (MYPs) who attendedConvention 3 to learn more about the campaignpriorities: Votes at 16 & a Curriculum for Life. MYPs from across Wales came together to make aplan. At the end of the month we also took part inthe Day of Action and spread the message to localand national decision-makers. We have submitteda report to the Council requesting a motion tosupport Votes at 16 in local elections.

The Youth Violence task group met withprofessionals from Education, the YouthServices, the Police and Youth OffendingService (YOS) to learn more about theissue that had been raised at a meeting. Sgt Wayne Lock discussed recent statisticswhich actually showed that the Vale wasone of the safest places to live, especiallyas a young person. We learnt how schoolssupport young people involved in violence,the procedures they have to follow, and thePrevention co-ordinator from the YOS toldus about the work her team does to helpyoung people get back on the right track. We were able to take a quiz back to themembers which highlighted some keystatistics about youth crime in the UK.

Vale Youth Forum Newsletter

C r e a t e d b y V Y F m e m b e r s

F O R M O R E D E T A I L S P L E A S E C O N T A C T V A L E Y O U T H F O R U M @ H O T M A I L . C O . U K R E G I S T E R E D C H A R I T Y N O . 1 0 8 2 2 0 5

Congratulations to our new members who completed the VYF induction training inFebruary half-term. The session looked at the roles and responsibilities ofmembers, the aim of the VYF, services that are provided by the Council and otherorganisations, as well as covering different levels of decision making from localdecisions, to the National Assembly for Wales, to UK Government. We also had aworkshop on the UNCRC which was delivered by the Vale Rights Ambassadors. It was a lot of information to take in but will help us in our role as we try torepresent the views of young people in our community the best we can.

We would also like to say thank you to JaneHutt AM who presented many memberswith Millennium Volunteer and Star Awards. The award recognises the contributionmembers have made to the VYF and thelocal community. Members received 50,100 and 200 hours volunteering.

Jan - March 2018

This term the Young Wales reps attended the Young Wales celebratoryevent in Cardiff Museum. Members spoke to the Children's Commissionerfor Wales and the Future Generations Commissioner to raise someconcerns, e.g. Welsh Bacc! At the event there were lots of information standsand workshops. We were able to help decide the new logo for the WelshYouth Parliament and give our thoughts on the proposed voting policy.

Also this term members of the Vale Rights Ambassadors delivereda presentation to VYF members about the National Children andYoung People's Participation Standards. The 7 seven standardsmake sure organisations are working with children and youngpeople in a proper way. We are hoping the VYF Trustees can signup to the new Charter which is facilitated by Children in Wales.

Our Equality & Diversity officer first raisedconcerns about equality of choice in the KS3PE curriculum last term, but has now takenpart in a web chat with the National Assemblyfor Wales. The web chat contributed to theInquiry into Physical Activity which was held bythe Health, Social Care and Sport committee.

It was nearly a year ago that Barnardo's first visited the VYF because theywere the new provider of the school and community based counsellingservice. We were happy to speak to them again in February to have anupdate on the service. We were able to see the numbers of young peoplehaving counselling, the referral process, the main issues young people face,and the waiting lists in schools. We were able to suggest some new waysof promoting the service and how to tackle some of the waiting list issues.One member has joined the steering group that meets termly to discuss theprogress and he is able to provide us with updates which is useful.

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