Ensuring the voices of young people get heard.

• Are you bothered about litter on your streets?
  
• Is bullying an issue that affects you?
  
• Do you ever wonder what there is to do for young people?
  
• Do you know what your local Councillor does and more importantly what they can do for you?
  
• Do you feel you never get asked what you think?
  
• Fed up of adults telling you what to do all the time?
  

If these and other questions bother you, or you’ve answered ‘yes’ and you don’t know where to go for answers then Sandwell’s Town Youth Councils may be able to help you.

Sandwell’s Town Youth Councils have been established for a number of years to ensure that young people are heard in local decision-making. There are 6 town councils that exist across Sandwell, one in each town. The purpose of the Youth Council’s is to ensure that as young people our voices are heard in decisions that are made at a local level. These may be decisions about education, health, leisure facilities, youth clubs. These decisions, may be made by the Council, Councillors, the Town Team, the Health Authority and other public bodies and organisations. The important thing to remember is that they are decisions that affect your life either now or in the future. Decisions that you have a right to be consulted on and your views considered.

This is where your local Town Youth Council can help. We want young people to get involved in organising events and activities that will enable all young people to have a say. We will also organise petitions, hold meetings with relevant people and attend meetings on behalf of young people and organise projects and campaigns that enable young people to be listened to.

You may think that this looks like all work and no play, but we do have a lot of fun. We organise offsite activities and residential’s and attend events and conferences around the country.

Also members of the Youth Council can become members of the Sandwell Youth Parliament, an Umbrella organisation for young people that holds young people’s events 4 times a year. Ultimately, you can stand for election and become a member of the Shadow Youth Cabinet. By being a member of the Shadow Youth Cabinet you get to shadow Cabinet Members of the Council and attend some very important meetings to represent young people both within and outside the Borough, for example at UK Youth Parliament or national events or conferences.

Some of the things that Local Town Councils have been involved in recently include assessing Youth Opportunity Fund applications, Smethwick Youth Council have undertaken consultations around Health and planning issues, Wednesbury and Oldbury Youth Council have attended Democratic Services training with the Youth Cabinet and members of various Town Council’s and the Youth Cabinet have attended a Conference in Wolverhampton and a Regional meeting in Birmingham.

If this has whet your appetite, you want to know more, or you feel that you would like to get involved then please contact:

Sandwell Active Youth involvement Team (SAY-IT)
Control House, Shaftesbury Street
West Bromwich