Young people – Page 62 – The NEN

Youth parliament candidate enjoys hustings event

The joint Edinburgh Central and Edinburgh Northern and Leith hustings that took place at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall was a fantastic night.

The questions asked from the audience were excellent and covered a huge range of issues. We heard questions raised regarding educational attainment, votes at 16 and homeless children, just to mention a few.

I even had a disagreement with Councillor Cammy Day on a Youth Parliament for Edinburgh Council, which I believe should be something that exists, whereas he doesn’t because he believes it was ‘a waste of time!’

It was a truly great experience to hear from young people on issues that mean something to them and an honour to be able to answer the questions to such an engaged crowd.

Kieran Reape

Candidate for Edinburgh Northern & Leith

Scottish Youth Parliament

Celebrating the Prince’s Trust

65,000 disadvantaged young people in Scotland have received support

The Scottish Government highlighted the vital work of The Prince’s Trust in Scotland over the last ten years earlier this week. Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training Roseanna Cunningham visited the charity’s new Glasgow centre, currently under construction, to see their contribution to supporting young women and men into work, training and enterprise.

The new centre will enable the Trust to reach more young people in Scotland and support their more complex needs, provide a welcoming, safe and secure environment and bring together a range of services from across the public, private and third sectors to help young people to unlock their potential.

The Trust was set up in 1976 and has been operating Scotland wide throughout that period. 65,000 disadvantaged young people have been supported with the help of Scottish Government and European Structural funding over the last ten years.

Ms Cunningham met young people and staff at the new centre and said: “The Prince’s Trust is a genuine innovator in Scottish life with an incredible track record of supporting 65,000 young people towards a job or setting up their own business in the last ten years alone.

“I am very pleased that the Scottish Government has been able to support their work and will continue to do so over the coming years. Their new Glasgow headquarters will provide a state-of-the art nerve centre for their work across the country.

“Improving job opportunities for young people remains a priority for this government and the third sector has an important role to play. This morning we have also announced a further £6.1 million for Community Jobs Scotland which will help even more disadvantaged young people fulfil their potential.”

Allan Watt, Director of The Prince’s Trust Scotland, said: “To have made such a difference in such trying times for all young people says much about the talents of our staff and volunteer teams and the incredible support of our partners in the public and private sectors across Scotland.

“We can do more and look forward to taking ownership of the Youth Employment and Enterprise Hub in Scotland based in Glasgow City Centre. This new facility represents an exciting step forward for the Trust and its partners in Scotland that will allow us to work together as a team under the same roof to help more young people get jobs, start businesses and move back into education.

“We would love to hear from any young person who wants to find out what opportunities we can offer to help them have the successful future they deserve.”

Leith Academy event to celebrate LGBT History Month

Edinburgh and Lothian Regional Equality Council, LGBT Youth Scotland and Leith Academy in collaboration with Lothian LGBT Development Group are jointly hosting an event to celebrate LGBT History Month 2015.

LGBT History Month: Education and Equality

Thursday 26 February 2015, 5.30 – 8pm

Leith Academy , 20 Academy Park, Edinburgh, EH6 8JQ

LGBT History Month takes place in Scotland every February. It is an opportunity to celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) lives and culture by exploring our own and others’ histories in an LGBT context. It is also an opportunity for learning, discussion and debate around the continued journey for complete LGBT inclusion.

LGBT_History_Month_2015_Invite

The theme for LGBT History Month 2015 is Education, and this evening will be an opportunity to hear how improved equalities can support pupils and students to achieve.

This year’s celebration will bring together communities to increase awareness of different identities and cultures. It will feature keynote speakers, multicultural performances, dances and live music. It will appeal to teachers, students, professionals and community members.

Can you please share the invitation to friends and family who might be interested in attending the event?

The event is FREE – you can book online via

http://bit.ly/1KFZVsz

LGBT_History_Month_2015_Invite

For further information contact:

Nigel Chipps

Youth and Community Development Officer (Edinburgh and The Lothians), LGBT Youth Scotland

E-mail: nigel.chipps@lgbtyouth.org.uk

Support not stereotypes, says Lazarowicz

Young people looking for their first job: Mark Lazarowicz MP calls on Government to offer support not stereotypes

Mark Lazarowicz MP is highlighting a new scheme run by the voluntary sector EY Foundation that will offer paid work experience, advice and support to young people in Edinburgh looking for their first job.

Youth unemployment (amongst 16-24 year-olds) is still running at 18.1% in Scotland and 16.9% in the UK as a whole. In Scotland it has increased by 4.5% since 2008.

The North and Leith MP is urging young people in Edinburgh to apply for the Foundation’s Smart Futures scheme, a ten-month paid work experience programme.

He said: “Schemes like Smart Futures and the City Council’s Edinburgh Guarantee are priceless opportunities for young people to get experience and the skills to succeed in finding their first job.

“Labour is committed to introducing a compulsory Jobs Guarantee that would ensure young people who are unemployed start gaining vital work experience and skills.

“Too often the Government resorts to negative stereotypes, talking of the well-worn path from school gate to Jobcentre and on to a life on benefits.

“The reality is that the vast majority of young people desperately want to work and are eager to apply for schemes like Smart Futures – the Government should learn from it and the Edinburgh Guarantee because too often it’s the Government that’s failing not young people.”

The scheme gives young people work experience and the chance to meet with people in business and get valuable tips on writing CVs, application and interview advice, as well as an EY Foundation mentor throughout Sixth Year.

The City Council’s Edinburgh Guarantee aims to ensure that every school leaver goes into employment, further education, or training by bringing them together with employers. There is more information on how it works at

https://www.edinburghguarantee.org/about-us/

Applications for the EY Foundation’s summer 2015 Smart Futures scheme are now open until 1 March 2015 and anyone keen to apply can find more information on it at http://ukcareerguide.ey.com/schools/ey-smart-futures

Scottish Youth Parliament: Elections 2015

Scottish Youth Parliament Elections 2015

The Scottish Youth Parliament holds elections every two years. The next elections to the Scottish Youth Parliament will take place in March 2015.

“The Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) represents Scotland’s young people. Our democratically elected members, aged 14-25, listen to and recognise the issues that are most important to young people, ensuring that their voices are heard by decision makers. We encourage all of Scotland’s young people to play their part in achieving our vision and provide a national platform for their participation in democracy.”

The stated aim of the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) is to represent and promote the views of Scotland’s young people. In seeking to achieve this, the organisation has adopted a quasi-parliamentary structure, with a standing body of members elected on a regular basis. The organisation seeks to promote the values of democracy, inclusion, political independence and passion.

The work of the SYP is designed to deliver five key objectives:

Affecting Change: A nation that listens to the voices of its young people.
Diverse Representation: All of Scotland’s young people are able to participate.
Positive about Young People: Young people are recognised as key contributors to Scottish society.
Developing Leaders: Through access to opportunities and training, our young people lead the way.
Celebrating Democracy: A strengthened relationship between young citizens and their political structures.

Your local candidates are:

EDINBURGH CENTRAL

Eilidh Dewar

Hello! My name is Eilidh Dewar and I am a 6^th year student at Broughton High School. I have always had a keen interest in politics and what young people want which is exactly why I got involved with the SYP. I feel like I would be an excellent member of the SYP because I am headstrong and I like standing up for what the young people in Edinburgh want. You should vote for me if you’re looking for someone who will stand up for young people and work extremely hard to get the voices of young people heard.

Lucy Duffy

My name is Lucie Duffy and I want to represent you at the SYP. I’m a member of my school’s Amnesty International Youth Group, so I want to help campaign for young people’s basic human rights, as well as other issues such as better Sex Education in schools and votes for 16 and 17 year olds. I think I could make a difference as an MSYP because I would listen to the views of other young people in my area and I believe that every single young person deserves the right to have a voice in Scotland.

Shorter version: I’m Lucie, and I want to represent you at the SYP because I think that young people deserve the right to have a voice in Scotland.

Wing-Yan Ng

I hope you will consider me as a candidate for Edinburgh Central, last year I successfully fulfilled one of my promises with promoting the living wage up to £7.85, please allow me again to work towards my manifesto and fulfil my promises to you. Giving young people fair representation is crucial to me and I want to protect your interests and I believe I can make a difference by representing your interests in the Scottish Youth Parliament. Voicing your opinion is important and I hope that you can lay your trust in me and support me. I would like to serve you in Edinburgh Central.

EDINBURGH NORTHERN AND LEITH

Callum Corea

I want to make young people feel they’re being represented and have a strong voice which is heard. I also want to make MSYP’s more accessible to young people and therefore easier to contact. I’m planning to have consultations with young people on issues affecting them such as youth involvement! I’ll also be campaigning on young carer and other similar issues which affect young adults. I’m aiming to campaign on equal pay for 16 – 20 year olds but also want to raise people’s awareness of young people’s contribution to society. I’m planning to campaign for more funding for youth groups but will be campaigning to set up more youth forums and other ways where young people can get more involved in politics and society. To help make all of this happen I’ll be working away to bridge the gap between decision makers and young people!

Nicolette Ester

Ever thought about being a little more responsibly disruptive?

As the next generation of Scottish leaders, I believe we need to take responsibility and raise our voices to protect the provisions in place to support our personal development. It’s no secret that times are getting harder, so, whether it’s cheaper public transport, a higher minimum-wage or better sports facilities vote for me as your SYP representative and I’ll help you speak out and get a little more responsibly disruptive about the issues that matter to you

Let’s work together to empower the young people of Scotland and fight for a brighter future! If anything else is needed please let me know!

Eilidh Mackay

Hi I’m Eilidh and I want to be your representative for North and Leith in the Scottish Youth Parliament. I am very passionate about making a positive difference to the lives of young people both nationwide and in this community. Being involved in change is something I have already been trying to get involved in, being a part of the Edinburgh Youth Issues forum for over four years, this is another way to continue that. If elected, I plan to find other ways to become involved in my close community, to stay in touch issues that young people have there.

Kieran Reape

I believe it to be crucial for young people from the age 16 and over, to be allowed to vote in the UK general election and European election. We have seen progress with this by allowing 16 and 17 year olds to vote in the Referendum and the upcoming 2016 Scottish general election. This was the outcome of successful lobbying from the Scottish Youth Parliament. I intend to further the recent success by getting the UK government and European Parliament to abide by the same rules. By voting for me in Edinburgh North and Leith you will be adding support to this cause.

Terri Smith

My name is Terri Smith and I am your current MSYP but also hoping to work for you for another 2 years. Over the years I have successfully campaigned on equal marriage, votes at 16, a living wage, supporting young carers whilst currently working on a campaign called POVERTY: see it change it. If re-elected I aim to focus on more support for LGBT young people, equal access to local and national opportunities, better engagement with local youth forums/groups and clubs, campaign for better work experience as well as tackling bullying in schools and also continue to work with NUS Scotland to support college and university students. Being an MSYP is about representing what you want and if you want someone with a proven track record on delivering whilst always ensuring a bit of banter is thrown in then vote for #TeamTerri – follow on twitter @3terrismith

EDINBURGH WESTERN

Owen Cruikshank

There are so many issues effecting Scotland’s young people today but one issue that must be addressed is Inequality. More than 1in5 of Scotland’s young people are classed as being in poverty. This is a shocking statistic but who better to tackle it than us – the young people. I am committed to helping create genuine change in our community and our country.

Although I have achieved a lot in my term, I know that there’s more I can achieve for our community. I can and will represent Edinburgh Western in the best possible way should I be re-elected.

Laura Holloway

Statement to follow

Sarah Outterson

I would like to be part of the Scottish Youth Parliament because I believe it’s really important that young people have a voice and a say in the decisions which affect their lives. I would campaign for disability awareness and hope to get more respect with those with disabilities. I would hope to raise the political awareness of young people as I think it’s increasingly important as we raise voting age that we know as young people the differences between each party.

I also hope to get Feminism in PSE lessons in schools. I think this is a great idea because they would then know what Feminism really is and not what they hear from their friends.

If you want to no more about me and my campaign you can follow me on Twitter at @ S_Outterson or on my blog on someonelikesarah.wordpress.com

For further information visit www.syp.org.uk/elections-2015

hustings flyer poster

Craigie crew tackles fire safety programme

‘One of the very best groups I have worked with’ – Ally Paterson

Eight pupils from Craigroyston Community High School took part in a Scottish Fire & Rescue Service youth engagement programme ran at Crewe Toll fire station this week. The students learned teamwork, communications and basic fire fighting skills during their training course, which they displayed to friends and family in an impressive exhibition at the local fire station yesterday.

Fire Service Youth Engagement Co-ordinator Ally Paterson explained “Working with young people means that the fire service can raise awareness and challenge attitudes to fire safety and other forms of anti-social behaviour.

“The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Youth engagement project engages with young people aged between 12-17 in order to work towards reducing hoax calls and secondary fires and to increase awareness of local community safety issues.

“We encourage positive social behaviour by using a combination of intensive group work and fire service activities with a view to raising self-esteem, confidence, personal motivation and increase problem solving skills.

“The programme allows participants to experience basic fire service tasks such as team building, first aid, hose running and ladder climbing to develop physical stamina. All activities incorporate a fire safety message and endorse a strong group work component.’’

Ally was particularly impressed with the Craigroyston recruits. “This was a really good group – I can honestly say that this has been one of the very best groups I have worked with in four years of doing this job. You could see them progress over the course of the week – I was really impressed with their attitude, they were keen to learn and a real pleasure to work with.”

On the final day of the programme, the young people – Josh Reid, Brent Blackie, Dylan Williamson, Liam Henderson, Arnis Zironkina, Lee Stevensdale, Josh Hardwick and Kieran Blackie – gave a practical presentation to demonstrate the skills they’d learned over the course of the week, and following the display the students were presented with certificates to recognise their achievements.

Brent, Dylan and Kieran have also been nominated to progress on to SFRS’ Phoenix programme for further training.

Speaking after the presentations, sixteen year old Kieran Blackie, who’s from Muirhouse, said: “It’s been an absolutely fantastic week, just amazing. We’ve been learning the skills the firefighters learn in their thirteen weeks basic training – but we’ve had to do it in four and a half days! It was a lot to take in but we’ve all definitely learned a lot, especially about the importance of teamwork and working together.”

Josh Hardwick also enjoyed the training. “I loved the whole week, every part of it, but if I had to choose the best bits I really enjoyed the session were we worked in a small, dark, confined space to locate and rescue a casualty – that might not be everybody’s idea of fun, but I really enjoyed it! The high ladder work was great too, although not ideal if you don’t have a head for heights. I think the week taught us just how hard the firefighters work and how dangerous their job can be.”

Congratulations to the Craigie crew!

More pictures on our Facebook page

Weather’s no match for local Army Cadets!

Nearly one hundred Army Cadets aged 12-18 years shrugged off freezing temperatures during a recent training weekend in the Pentland Hills, their first camp of 2015.

The weekend saw cadets based at Granton Square overcome snow, ice and sub-zero temperatures to put into practice the skills taught at their local Detachment.

Cadets took part in navigation training, first aid and fieldcraft. During the fieldcraft phase, cadets learned how to build improvised shelters and secure a ‘temporary home’ known as a Harbour Area.

Senior Cadets under the supervision of the Adult Volunteers grasped the opportunity to demonstrate to the younger Cadets how preparedness, teamwork and self-discipline can determine your success and survival, whatever the weather.

Major John Tonner, Officer Commanding of the weekend said: “I am extremely impressed with the abilities demonstrated by the Cadets and their maturity in applying themselves in the adverse conditions brought by the cold weather.

“It is a very unique opportunity for individuals to witness how valuable skills provided within our Youth Organisation can steer young people to go further in their chosen path in life”.

The ability to adapt quickly was demonstrated by all of the Cadets resulting in many new qualifications gained and successful testing to allow Cadets to progress onto the next stage of their Cadet careers with 17 Cadets gaining new First Aid qualifications and five Adult Volunteers receiving their First Aid at Work qualification.

17 Platoon is part of Lothian & Borders Army Cadet Force and have training nights every Monday and Wednesday evenings between 7 – 9pm. They welcome cadets between 12 and 18 years of age and encourage parents to get involved too.

You can find out more about the Cadet’s sporting and adventure training activities by visiting their Detachment at the Army Reserve Centre at Granton Square, online at www.lbcadets.co.uk or by calling 01506 856 698.

Power to the Pupils!

Broughton S2 group looks at local democracy

As S2 pupils at Broughton High School we undertook an inter-disciplinary learning (IDL) course as part of our S2 elective subject choice called ‘Power to the Pupils’ which was run by Callum and Stephan from Community Learning & Development (CLD).

The course – called Power to the Pupils – has been great as it has had a local focus which has allowed us to gather and identify issues that directly affect us as young people growing in the north Edinburgh area. We had great debates and positive discussion and of course great fun as well deciding which were there most important topics that we could address!

Our top issues were:

Negative stereotypes given for young people need to be challenged
Cyber Bullying
Free bus passes for all young people
Reduce the amount of bullying/name calling in Edinburgh
Reduce the cost of bus travel of young people
Young People should have more of a choice in the curriculum
Young People are unable to use some words (e.g. due to PC issues/double standards/they’re inflammatory etc.)
Dog fouling in the streets/parks which young people use
Young people not having a vote
Edinburgh should have a theme park like M&Ds
Cinema prices are too expensive.

Since coming to ‘power to the pupils’ we have been involved in some trips out to places like the City Chambers (above)and the ‘main cooncil headquarters’ where we learned about democracy, how decisions are made and who makes them on our behalf.

We even got to meet a real councillor – Nigel Bagshaw, who represents the Green Party in this area (Inverleith ward) in Edinburgh. He was really great! He listened to our concerns and he also gave us some fantastic advice on how we could take our issues forward. We also saw lots of famous people in some of the paintings that are hanging on the walls in the council building.

After visiting the city chambers we realised we should lobby on a more local level so we had a visit to the local Neighbourhood Partnership office based in North Edinburgh (above).

We raised several concerns that we had identified as being important to us. Negative stereotypes of young people, dog fouling in public spaces were just a couple of subjects we raised. The staff were great they listened all our questions and gave us some really positive feedback. They agreed that they were very important issues that needed tackling and gave us brilliant advice on methods to take our campaigns forward which was good.

We have learned some great new techniques and various methods to make our voices heard. Having the opportunity to access politicians with our issues by lobbying council officials as well as on a more local level with the North Edinburgh Neighbourhood Partnership has been fantastic and we all hope we have influenced them in a positive way.

The course has allowed us to learn new skills which will help us in the future there has also been lots of great discussion, debates which was interesting and above all it was great fun!

Here are some quotes from members of our group:

“The stuff we have learned will be useful in the future” – Harry Hunter S2

“Visiting the city chambers was really interesting it is a very old building with lots of traditions and history” – Simran Singh(S2)

“We hope we can make a difference and change people’s opinions of young people” – Chloe Carr (S2)

“It has been an amazing course and interesting” – Gabriella Borges (S2)

“I have made new friends as well as learnt some new skills” – Kyle Crooks (S2)

Power to the Pupils!

#StrongerNorth update: Young people and our community

#Stronger North: working with our young people

Work with primary aged children

As part of a new role created by Total Craigroyston Team, it was agreed that a youth worker would work in four of the local primary schools to deliver a programme called ‘Respect in the Community.’

The aim was to help primary aged children understand the importance of safety in the community, publicise all the activities that are available after school and help them make good choices about what they do with their time after school.

The youngsters make a map of their community in the first session, showing where many of the positive activities take place. They look at what makes a safe community for everyone and think about they can keep themselves safe as well as looking out for others.

At a later stage they have the opportunity to identify where they feel safe themselves or not. We’ve found that many of our primary children are very well aware of and have experienced some of the issues that make them feel unsafe.

A big part of the programme is helping children develop the skills to make good decisions especially where they might feel tempted by friends to take part in behaviour that causes distress to others. In small groups they think about developing a community campaign about combating anti-social behaviour and then present their ideas to their classmates.

The programme has gone down very well with P5, P6 and P7’s in Pirniehall and St David’s, has just started in Craigroyston Primary and will be starting very soon in Forthview.

Reward Scheme

We’ve developed a loyalty card so that youngsters who are positive participants in youth clubs and sports clubs can gather points and receive a reward. It will run until Easter to see if it will be successful. So far Ainslie Park Leisure Centre and Craigroyston Community High School has offered free swims for individuals and families and each of the youth organisations involved has agreed to run a special reward night for those involved.

Teenagers

As well as all the youth clubs and sports opportunities that are available in the community , we have developed some out of hours sessions for teenagers – offering them the opportunity to get involved in activities later at night in an effort to combat the idea that there is nothing to do. If these sessions go well then more can be offered. These activities are taking place in Spartans and Pilton Youth and Children’s Project.

Face North (above) is a special project, working with some of the young people who are involved in anti-social behaviour and so far we have been able to involve these young people in working at Towford, the bothy owned by My Adventure. To help get the Bothy ready for use by local groups and organisations they have helped with basic maintenance, cleared ground, laid paths, chopped down and replanted trees and completed some minor repairs. They have also painted the kitchen area in Pilton Youth and Children’s Project and will soon be doing some environmental work on the cycle path.

The Mentors in Violence Prevention Programme is being implemented in local High Schools as well as in the local community. This gives older young people the training and skills to work with younger ones and help them think through how they would handle a wide range of tricky incidents giving young people and the community the confidence to speak up against and challenge issues such as bullying or other types of anti-Social behaviour.

Sessions for parents will be run towards the end of February – look out for dates or contact Community Learning and Development worker Sarah Neal if you are interested in attending. Her number is 552 5700.

Safer Internet seminar

Last chance to book – you do not have to be working online to make use of this session, or be an ‘expert’ in social media!

As in previous years, as part of Safer Internet Day 2015 we will be hosting a seminar especially for youth workers on Tuesday 10 February at Gilmerton Community Centre from 6– 8pm.

Booking is essential for this event as there are only limited spaces at the centre. The seminar is open to all youth workers across the City, Council or voluntary sector, paid staff or volunteers.

For the seminar, Liz Ely from Zero Tolerance will present their research on young people’s attitudes and then take us through some of the useful approaches that they have developed for youth workers in their ‘Under Pressure’ resource.

http://zerotolerance.org.uk/sites/all/files/Peer%20Research_1.pdf
http://zerotolerance.org.uk/UnderPressure

This promises to be an engaging seminar in an area of concern for many young people, parents and workers. To book your place, please email:

gavin.crosby@edinburgh.gov.uk

with your name, email address and organisation.

Places will be limited to one per centre in the first instance, any spare places will be offered up to others nearer the event.

Places may be available to non-youth work agencies (e.g. housing, social workers or teachers) but priority will be given to youth work staff.