Catch Up On The Last Meeting

County Youth Forum

What we discussed in last meeting (16th Feb):

 

County Youth Forum Update: 

Young people from school council and 3 YEPS community forums received update on current progress of County Youth Forum and brought up to speed with recent meetings.

Consultation Opportunity 1 – Richard and Chieko – Heritage

Members of the forum were given the opportunity to take part in a virtual reality experiences and were asked for their feedback and if they felt it would improve current heritage experiences in RCT.  Each forum member that took part had the opportunity to try an interactive mining experience and an interactive museum experience, followed by completing a feedback form.  The overall feedback was very positive and all involved really enjoyed the opportunity.

 

 

 

Community Forum/School Council Feedback:

School Council young people and Community Forum groups were invited to share work that they had been involved in over last few weeks:

Rhondda Forum

Since the last CYF meeting the Rhondda forum have been nominated for a Welsh Government Youth Excellence Award for Digital Innovation for an animation project they completed about mental health, which will be announced on February 22^nd in North Wales.

The forum have been planning for the up-coming YEPS fashion show on April 4^th at Nantgarw College, they have been working hard on creating items of clothing made from recycled materials.  The items will be showcased at the event on April 4^th.

As part of the RCT youth forum’s community safety project, forum members have planned and recorded video and voice overs for an up-coming video about how safe young people feel in their areas and their experiences that have made them feel unsafe.

Forum members also helped create a short piece of work around raising awareness of unhealthy and controlling relationships which was performed at the White Ribbon Event in Pontypridd on November 24^th 2023.

Taf Forum

The Taf Forum are working together to create issues-based workshops that can be delivered by forum members at schools, youth clubs etc.  They cover topics such as anti-bullying, anti-vaping, respect to name a few.

Forum members have also started to create resources around supporting and raising awareness of mental health, which they intend to showcase on a stand at the Eisteddfod this summer.

The forum is creating items of clothing for the Environmental Fashion show in April and they also voted on the final name of the Fashion show.

The forum also worked with NaturPonty on their nature manifesto, helping to consult with them on their favourite natural areas in Ponty and the surrounding areas, and also helped decided on the fonts and lay out of their physical manifesto which has now gone to print had is available for people to read.

Cynon Forum

Cynon Youth Forum have also been nominated for a Youth Excellence award for Equality and Diversity.  This was for the Pride event they planned and ran in Aberdare Park and over 500 people attended.

Some forum members took part in a Nigerian History and Culture project, where they learned how to interview people and then used their new skills to conduct interviews for a future film presentation.

Following on from this project, forum members decided they wanted to start a multicultural heritage project with the end goal of creating a piece of work, including a documentary style film, to showcase the rich and diverse cultures in Cynon valley and across RCT.

Members also are getting involved with the Environmental Fashion show, creating items of clothing and helping on the night with the running of the show.

Forum members also took part in the White Ribbon event in Pontypridd and helped create the performance that with shown at the event, for a second year.

Tonyrefail Community School Council

TCSC have started up a new reward scheme at their school which involves rewarding positive behaviour with things like discounts on school meals and free stationary.

The school council is also helping with Big Bocs Bwyd in Tonyrefail, which is a project to help young people and families to in a healthy and positive way, offering good quality food and recipes at a price that is affordable to everyone.

Consultation Opportunity 2 – Council Corporate Strategy 2024-2030

Rhys James delivered a consultation asking young people on their feedback on topics that would affect them over the next 6 years that the council aim to implement.  Their feedback on housing, people and communities, nature and the environment and work and business will be used to shape the councils plans for the future as the decisions made now will affect these young people in years to come.  Some very interesting discussion points came up and some great feedback was given.

AOB

Allyn asked for volunteers to put their names forward to become the next Member of Youth Parliament for RCT, which had a very positive uptake. Results of the process will be made available once the election process is completed.

Young people also put their names forward to take part in two future environmental consultations with the council, including one where they will speak to cabinet members about topics, they are passionate about.

 

Date of Next Meeting

31/5/2024.  Venue to be Confirmed and updated at a later date.