We are delighted to congratulate Sofia C, Year 10, for recently becoming a member of the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP). She is pleased to share her achievement with us.
“I have been part of Youth Cabinet for almost two years. In this time, I have assisted at the Takeover Challenge/Democracy Day twice, helped start up a new group branching off the Youth Cabinet surrounding the signs and impacts of health and unhealthy relationships, and most recently, I have been internally elected as a member of the UKYP. I am one of four members representing West Sussex, my locality being Mid Sussex and Horsham.
Youth Cabinet has been a great opportunity for me to gain confidence when sharing my opinions within a large group. We often spend meetings looking at resources produced by organisations aiming, for example, to raise awareness of domestic abuse and unhealthy relationships, to young people. Some of the Youth Cabinets work helped assist in the creating of a pack sent out to schools across West Sussex, titled ‘Together, we can stop Child Sexual Exploitation’.
This is one of the main reasons I enjoy Youth Cabinet – we get to see how our input can help the community, and how we have represented youth voice.
I think this was a good time for me to move up into UKYP, as I have gained skills from being in the Youth Cabinet that will help me make the most of my position. For the time being, UKYP representing West Sussex will be continuing work from the previous members surrounding the Make Your Mark campaign, where secondary school aged pupils could vote for the issues they felt important to them, which were then discussed by the UKYP in the House of Commons. This year, the Britain-wide Campaign is ‘Votes At 16’, and the National Campaign is ‘A Curriculum For Life’.
Sofia C
Democracy Day
https://yourspacewestsussex.me/2017/02/02/takeover-challenge-democracy-day-2016/
UKYP Make Your Mark Campaign
http://www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk/makeyourmark/
