Highland Youth Voice Conference
The autumn conference for Highland Youth Voice was opened by local MP, Danny Alexander at Badaguish near Aviemore and ran from 20 - 22 November 2009.
In partnership with The Highland Council’s Youth Development Team the event was designed and run by young people to look at issues such as living in the Highlands, employability, children’s rights, child protection and internet safety.
The event was made even more interesting by the inclusion of a party of staff and young people from Sardinia, who had heard about the good Youth Work going on in the Highlands and requested a visit so that they could experience Highland Youth Voice in action and share good practice.
The young Highlanders took the opportunity to also give the Sardinians a taste of Highland hospitality and culture and introduced them to Gaelic music and traditional Scottish dancing.
The Young people were also delighted to have the presence of Highland Council’s Chief Executive, Alistair Dodds, along with Councillors Bill Fernier, Margaret Paterson and Linda Munro.
Workshops were run by Highland and Islands Enterprise looking at employability, life and opportunities for young people in the highlands. There was also discussion groups, hosted by MFR’s Nicky Marr, on issues of child protection and young people’s rights including a debate around lowering the voting age to 16 and young people’s involvement in ward forums and community councils.
There were also consultations around the local development plans, a recent lifestyle survey, a review of leisure and recreation and how the police engage with young people.
An ‘Open Mic’ session and area workshops also gave Youth Voice members the opportunity to discuss other issues of importance to young people in Highland. Those attending will take away the messages to share with other young people in their schools, youth forums and groups in their areas.
Highland Youth Voice is managed by The Highland Council and it gives young people a chance to have their say and meet decision makers. The Highland Council’s Children’s Champions, Councillor Bill Fernie, Chair of Education, Culture and Sport and Magnus Monahan the Youth Convener will be feeding back to the council on what the young people had to say.
Highland Youth Convener Magnus Monahan said: “It was an excellent conference. We covered a lot of interesting topics and had some really good debates and our friends from Sardinia were very impressed with how we do things in the Highlands.”