Highland Youth Voice - The Apprentice!

Seven young people have been given the chance to play the role of an “Apprentice” to senior Highland Council officials.

Jeff Lawrie, Mallaig, Paul MacDonald, Nairn, Gillian Slider, Ullapool, Christopher Oughton, Inverness, Andrew Gill, Fortrose, Ewan McCreath, Inverness and Hannah Brown, Dornoch, spent the day shadowing senior officials within the offices of The Highland Council in Glenurquhart Road, Inverness.

The young people are all members of the Executive of Highland Youth Voice, the youth parliament for the Highlands, and local youth forums and they organised their day of shadowing to raise awareness of Highland Youth Voice and local youth forums; to explore the relevance of services to young people; and to inform senior managers on young people’s perceptions of the services they provide.
 
They were involved in a range of meetings and informal discussions in and around Inverness.
 
Paul Macdonald, a member of the Highland Youth Voice Executive from Nairn, shadowed Sheila McKandie, Local Taxation and Benefits Manager. He said: “The day was a great success and enjoyed by all involved. It certainly gave me an insight into local government finance and helped me realise how diverse the service is. It also gave me the opportunity to raise the awareness of the Highland Youth Voice and youth forums with the staff I met.”

Harriet Dempster, Director of Social Work, was shadowed by Ewan McCreath from Inverness. She said: “It was a privilege to spend the day with Ewan. I learned more about youth voice and the youth forums and what they do. It was really refreshing meeting the young people, answering their questions and explaining how the Council operates and the services we deliver.”