This month myself and Jess have been busy with a number of events through which we have represented young people’s voice in the local community.

To begin with, we attended the UKYP South West Residential in Cornwall. During this we were involved in a number of sessions which explained in greater detail our roles as member and deputy, and gave us a great deal of help with regard to having a successful year in office, and representing the youth of Poole to the best of our abilities.

As well as a lot of meetings, information sessions and planning, we also met some great people and took part in Cornish pasty making and the céilidh; which is a traditional Gaelic social gathering involving Gaelic folk music and dancing. I have to admit that my pasty making left something to be desired!

Both Jess and I agreed that we wanted our third priority to be chosen by the young people we are representing, so to find out what young people felt strongly about, we have produced a survey entitled 'Speak Up'. We have been distributing this survey to a variety of young people in Poole in order to get their views on the issue which they feel affects young people most in the local community.

We are still in the process of collecting all the responses, but once we have done this we intend to take action upon the issue which is most popular. At the moment mental health and well-being is the clear front runner but that could all change. We will let you know the final results of the survey in next month’s blog.

I have also been actively informing young people in Poole about the UKYP national campaign; ‘A Curriculum for Life’ and have been getting their opinions on the proposals as well as their support through petitions.

The ‘Curriculum for Life’ campaign is a call on the Government to ensure every young person receives education surrounding politics, sex and relationships, cultural awareness, community cohesion, financial skills and sustainable living by making it a compulsory part of the national curriculum. So far I have collected over 120 signatures from young people in Poole in support of the campaign.

With regard to our other two priorities; stress and more opportunities for young people in Poole, we are currently arranging meetings with the relevant people in order to decide upon action plans and really make a difference.

For more regular updates on our progress take a look at our Facebook page; Poole UKYP. We look forward to updating you next month!

Francesca Reed (DMYP for Poole)