British Youth Council: Let’s celebrate young Britons too!

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Tuesday, 19, Aug 2008 12:00

Last week saw a “week of winners” - great success for Team GB in the Olympics and young people across the UK achieving record A-level results.

It was an apt time for 200 young people, aged from 12 to 25, to meet up in Nottingham to talk about what they wanted to see happen in politics and how they would get active and achieve this.

All these young people were in Nottingham from Thursday to Saturday (14th-16th) for the British Youth Council’s (BYC) annual Convention and Annual General Meeting. They were delegates and observers from member organisations of BYC.

At BYC Convention young people participated in creative workshops on topics such as campaigning, speaking in public, and making short promo films. This was alongside debates on all the latest political issues. A panel debate titled ‘Blade Britain’ on knife crime featured Ben Cohen, the youngest Channel 4 news journalist, and Roy Williams, the writer whose play ‘Fallout’ was made into a successful TV drama as part of Channel 4's Disarming Britain series. Politicians from the three main parties were also quizzed in a televised ‘Question Time’ style debate.

On the Saturday BYC held its Annual General Meeting to shape its work for the future. There were debates on a range of motions, which fed into BYC’s Youth Manifesto 2008/2009. Topics debated ranged BYC’s involvement in international work to getting more young people involved in outdoor activites.

This week BYC will also call on politicians and decision-makers to respond to 6 calls for action chosen by delegates at the AGM. These include: an equal minimum wage for young people; votes at 16; more incentives and recognition for volunteering; more radical and urgent climate change targets; accessible and free transport for young people and fairer funding for those attending higher education

BYC Chair, Emily Beardsmore, said of the event:

“We have spent the last week surrounded by young people demonstrating that they want to make a positive difference to our society. We believe in celebrating the potential of young people and their commitment to a creating a better society.

“Young people are part of the solution not the problem. We want to make difference – hear us, involve us and give us a say in the future of this country by empowering us to vote at 16. We’ll be the ones creating the success stories of the future”.

For more information on BYC Convention and AGM visit www.byc.org.uk

Notes to editors:

1) The British Youth Council (BYC) is led by young people, for young people aged 26 and under across the UK. We connect with our community of member organisations and network of Local Youth Councils to empower all young people, wherever they’re from, to have a say and be heard. Our take on training and volunteering and our powerful campaigns, both local and global, inspire young people to have a positive impact and make their voices count.

2) BYC believes that all young people should be involved in making decisions on an individual, local and national level. We think that young people should be respected and treated equally at all times, and be recognised for the positive contributions they make to society and in their communities.

3) Young people participating at BYC Convention and Annual General Meeting included those from large youth organisations such as the NUS, Girl Guiding UK and the Scouts to Local Youth Councils such as the London LGBT Youth Council and East Riding Youth Assembly.

4) For photos of the event please contact the details below.

For further information please contact:

Helen Deakin

Press Officer

British Youth Council

020 7022 1974/ 07809507360

Helen.Deakin@byc.org.uk

www.byc.org.uk

Helen Deakin

Policy and Press Officer

British Youth Council

Mezzanine 2,

1 London Bridge,

London. SE1 9BG.

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