Young people in North Ayrshire met last weekend to make their voices heard in an annual youth forum.
Bringing 50 young people aged between 12 to 25 together, the Joint Youth Forum event at Ardeer Community Centre on Saturday 22 February was a chance for young people to network, share their ideas and influence local decision-making.
A key strand of North Ayrshire’s Youth Participation and Citizenship Strategy, the day also had a series of workshops including Money and Mental Health with training provided by Change Mental Health and Mental Health UK and a creative session to mark LGBT History Month.
Delivered by North Ayrshire Youth Services and their team of Youth Work Modern Apprentices – part of the council’s Community Learning and Development team, the afternoon session provided lunch, conversation workshops and learning modules.
Youth groups and representatives in attendance included North Ayrshire Active Schools (NASA) team, Kilwinning Youth Forum, North Coast Youth Forum, Garnock Valley Youth Forum, the council’s Youth Executive (with pupils from across North Ayrshire secondary schools), Garnock Valley Youth Synergy, the Umbrella Club and Members of Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs).
Part of the session encouraged young people to decide upon future themes for upcoming youth participation events happening such as the upcoming Joint Cabinet in Autumn 2025 which brings together pupils from all North Ayrshire secondary schools and the council’s lead officers and elected members.
Feedback on the day was encouraging with young people sharing:
“It was good to develop tools to help us in the future with managing money and also overcome the hurdle of speaking about money openly.”
“I’m excited about my ideas being shared with people in the council so that I can do my part to make a difference in other schools.”
“I feel really good and it felt brilliant to be actually listened to.”
The knowledge gained will be used as feedback to the council’s executive leadership team to shape supportive policies and strategies going forward.
Councillor Alan Hill, Cabinet Member for Communities and Islands, said:
“Thank you to the young people who gave up their own time to attend the recent Joint Youth Forum.
“This event follows on from other recent participation events like the recent Joint Cabinet at Saltcoats Town Hall and youth councils held in schools.
“It also directly supports the Council’s work around The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which ensures that all children’s rights are respected.
“The valuable feedback gained will continue the important work we are doing to ensure that young people have the equal opportunity to influence and contribute towards the council’s decision-making on matters affecting them.
“As a child-centred council, we will continue to raise awareness across all of our services to ensure that all North Ayrshire Council staff understand the role we all have to play to protect the rights of our children and young people and ensure their voices are heard.”
If you would like to get involved in future #youthparticpation events – register your interest at youthwork@north-ayrshire.gov.uk
Stay tuned to the council’s Youth Services social media channels to keep updated as the Equalities programme progresses – Facebook: @NAYouthServices and X: @NAYouthServices.