Young Wales Vale of Glamorgan

The Vale Youth Forum (VYF) aims to make a difference by enabling young people to voice their opinions about local issues and influence policy decisions...

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Vale of Glamorgan Youth Mayors 2017-2018

VYF Newsletter

VYF Newsletter Jan March 2018 2

Your Youth Mayors 2016/17

Are you a member of a Youth Forum? - Young people's experiences

Emily: I've been involved in youth forums for 6 years and it has given me the opportunity to represent my local area to local, national and international decision-makers. I've had the chance to travel across Europe and meet lots of new people and friends. I am now able to facilitate workshops and training to young people and professionals on a variety of issues and it has given me the passion to fight for young people's voices to be heard!

Erin: Being a youth councillor has made me happy. I'm proud of myself and my friends because we work together to make a change in young people's lives locally. I can now create session plans and deliver workshops and I know how important children's rights are.

Daniel: Over the past couple of years I have been involved with many projects including the Vale Youth Forum, Vale Youth Cabinet and not forgetting being elected Youth Mayor as well! All of these projects have enabled me to do things that before I would have never done. They have provided me with many opportunities that I would have thought as impossible, they have equipped me with the skills to succeed in life, and to top it all off has given me many new friends and memories.

Ellis: Being a youth councillor has increased my confidence so much that I can now speak in front of people without vomiting! I have developed my public speaking skills and now have the skills to be Vice Chair of the Vale Youth Forum, deliver assemblies and inspect young people's services to award them with the Children and Young People's Participation Kitemark for Wales.

Daley: I've been involved with the youth service since September 2014 when I joined Barry Youth Action and I've had so many opportunities. I've joined the Vale Youth Forum and I'm now part of the Vale of Glamorgan Youth Cabinet and have just been to Belgium to meet Youth Councils from across Europe. I've been trained as a Young Commissioner to help deliver a new Emotional Health & Wellbeing service for young people locally and I've meet the Queen and Prince Charles. I love being a Youth Councillor and attending meetings because I am improving things for young people, we even have a joke and the youth workers like Bethan, Geraint, Conway and Ve are fantastic in helping me! It's not too much either, just one meeting a month. It’s fun and I like a debate so positive all round. I’ve just had the opportunity to stand for Youth Mayor and I was elected Deputy Youth Mayor. I'm sure everyone would like to take up that opportunity. I've developed loads of new skills and it's very interesting because you find out information that nobody else would know about yet.

Kyle: Being involved in Llantwit Youth Council has given me the confidence to meet new people, gain qualifications and teach children, young people and professionals about the UNCRC. I've started to help people whereas before I was doing nothing.

Emme: I’ve been a member of the Vale Youth Forum and the first Vale Youth Cabinet and I did my 6th form work experience with the Youth Service. I've had so many opportunities to meet new people, try new things and my experience has been so rewarding. I'm now about to go onto University and being involved in the youth forum has inspired me to study politics.

Vale of Glamorgan Youth Cabinet Election 2016

On Monday 25th April the third Youth Cabinet election was held at the Vale Youth Forum. You can see a snippet of the candidates manifestos using the link below. Full manifestos available soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh0hXVE1XdQ&sns=tw

Vale Youth Forum Newsletter

Vale of Glamorgan Rights Ambassadors

Rights Ambassadors are a group of young people aged 11-25 from across the Vale of Glamorgan. They have undertaken the Level 2 Agored Cymru Unit called ‘United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.’ Following their training they have worked in small groups to create workshops that they have delivered to children, young people and adults in youth organisations, schools and a town council in the Vale.

They have recently met to discuss their aims for the next twelve months, and they plan to continue delivering workshops, get involved in recruiting and training a new group of Rights Ambassadors and support Super Ambassadors in primary schools.

Vale Youth Cabinet

The Youth Cabinet is the voice for young people from across the Vale and represent their views to decision makers within the Vale of Glamorgan Council. It is a joint initiative between the Vale Youth Service and the Vale of Glamorgan Cabinet.

Youth Councillors must be residents of the Vale of Glamorgan and are elected from the Vale Youth Forum. There are 7 Youth Councillors who are elected for a minimum of one year. From the Youth Cabinet a Youth Mayor is elected. The Youth Cabinet have monthly meetings which are chaired by the Youth Mayor. The Youth Cabinet meet with VOGC cabinet members and officers. The Youth Cabinet offers young people aged 11-25 challenging opportunities for participation and consultation, involvement in decision-making and volunteering with the aim of improving their community and the lives of those who live there.