Children and young people attend BYC Summer Convention

“I once heard a young person say politics is like an interesting book in a dark dusty library”, quipped Alex Delaney, Chair of the British Youth Council (BYC) as she addressed the 180 strong audience at the BYC Summer Convention in London. She continued, “I hope that being here today has made that book a little more interesting and the library brighter”.

But judging by their reaction to a debate at the event in London, many of the young people in attendance on 3rd August needed little convincing.

On the panel were Chloe Smith MP, Steve Pound MP, Jean Lambert MEP and Simon Hughes MP (deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats). In the chair was Ian Dale, a political commentator. The questions posed by 16-25 year olds from across the South East and beyond ranged from why the voting age shouldn’t be lowered to 16 to whether British troops should be withdrawn from Afghanistan.

The biggest response from the vocal audience followed a question around the Government’s ending of the ring-fence around the Youth Opportunities Fund. Chloe Smith warned that local people need to prioritise their own spending. In response, Stephen Pound whipped the audience into a frenzy of approval by calling for continued investment in young people.

Alex, aged 14 from Stafford, said of the debate, “The explosive enthusiasm on the issues and campaigns discussed by the young people, shows that the future of this nation may not be as bleak as some people think”.

The event also aimed to develop young people’s skills and support them to become more effective youth councillors. A choice of interactive workshops, consultations and activities were delivered by a range of organisations including Timebank, Junction49 and BYC members, NUS and NCVYS.

Paige, youth councillor from Youth Action Council aged 14, said of the workshops, “I now feel so much more confident talking in public, the workshop was a tremendous help. I now hope to continue using the techniques I learnt”.

Linda, NCVYS Envoy member from London aged 15, said: “I thought it was a great day! I learnt about the different ways people can be discriminated against and what laws are in place to protect us, the panel debate was another fantastic opportunity, it was very heated and loads of young people had questions to ask.”

Maggie Atkinson, Children’s Commissioner for England summed up the importance of the day in her opening address: “I think that today is really, really important and I want to thank BYC for running these events…It is crucial that we come together as a force for good for the young. It is vital that we get your thoughts and views through to the Houses of Parliament.”

The BYC London Convention was one of five events organised by BYC which took place across the UK during the school summer holidays. BYC Summer Conventions also took place in Cardiff, Glasgow, York and Belfast.

Wed, 11/08/2010 - 14:07