Agenda and minutes

At the last meeting it was agreed that Samuel would chair this meeting. Christopher  would be Vice-Chairman.

It was noted that Samuel would be Chairman and Christopher would be the Vice Chairman for this meeting.

The Chairman advised that a copy of the minutes were included within the agenda, which all Youth Council should receive through the post around 5 days before the meeting. The minutes were a written document of the Youth Council meetings and Youth Councillors were asked to read through them to check whether they were a correct record of the meeting.

Di asked Youth Councillors to bring the relevant agenda with them to the meeting and if they were not receiving them by post, to check that their address details were correct.

Marley, Oliver, Jude and Maitland had not received their agenda’s through the post.

ACTION: Beckie to check their addresses were correct.

            RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

To consider matters arsing from the previous meeting.

Nina advised that she had spoken with the Student Leadership Team at Epping St John’s School and would be meeting with the Headteacher to discuss the school bus issue.

Di asked whether Youth Councillors had designed and sought out a location for the new suggestion boxes within their schools. The Youth Councillors would be trained and assisted with making a presentation in assembly, to promote and explain the use of the suggestion boxes to fellow pupils.

Marley had suggested the main office for Epping St John’s and Finlay and Alex T were going to make a presentation to advertise the suggestion boxes at Davenant Foundation.

Di to report on the presentation to be made to the Communities Select Committee on 14 March 2017.

Di advised that the Communities Select Committee had invited the Youth Councillors to their meeting to give a short presentation about their work, achievements and an update on what they would like to use the project funding for in the future. The project funding was £5,000 and the previous Youth Councillors had used the funding to start the MiLife project. The meeting would be held on Tuesday 14 March 21017 and four Youth Councillors were required to present the information to the Committee.

The following Youth Councillors offered to attend – Alex T, Zachary, Ashwin, Marley, Samuel, Lisa, Finlay, Annabelle, and Jude.

ACTION: Youth Councillors to consider some project ideas for the future funding and what they would like to achieve in their term of office. Di asked Youth Councillors to either Text or Email the ideas to her.

Youth Councillors to report on any updates from their schools.

Youth Councillors feedback on any relevant information from their school;

Chigwell School – Abigail advised that she had presented the information on MiLife and My Mind, which had received positive feedback;

Davenant Foundation School – Alex T advised that they had promoted the MiLife and My Mind websites with school. Also, Finlay had attended the School Council and Bullying was priority for them.

Independent – Ashwin advised that he and (former Youth Councillor) Matthew Tinker had attended a British Youth Council event at the Houses of Parliament. Matthew had been presented a Backbencher Award for his contribution to the Youth Parliament debate held on 11 November 2016.

Epping St John’s – Marley, Annabelle and Nina advised that there had been trips to the West End arranged to see Matilda and the School of Rock, a French theatre company had been into the school to perform a play entirely in French and a visit to the Houses of Parliament has been arranged for year 11 pupils.

Roding Valley High School – Maitland advised that he was organising a trip to a Brixton radio station in collaboration with Black History Month. He was currently organising posters and consent forms for year 11 pupils.

West Hatch High School – Davin advised that a new fence had been installed around the school.

Di to present the Youth Cup.

Di advised that the Youth Council cup was awarded to Youth Councillors that had gone the extra mile or had done something outstanding which benefited the community or school they attended.

The two winners of the Youth Council cup were Ashwin and Lisa, who would be attending the Chairman’s Civic Awards Dinner on Friday 17 March 2017.

Ashwin continues to be a high achieving Youth Councillor, who had recently achieved the Jack Petchey Achievement Award for his commitment and enthusiasm towards the Youth Council’s Mental Health project. Ashwin attends Debden Park High School and was incredibly studious and an outstanding representative of the community.

Lisa has been an outstanding Youth Councillor and has mentored the newly elected members. Lisa has grown in confidence since joining the Youth Council and has been a founder member of the MiLife Positive Mental Health project which was now being delivered in schools across the Epping Forest district. Lisa is the Head Girl at King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy and represents young people in the Waltham Abbey area.

Di advised that Finlay and Marley would be presented with the Youth Council Cup at the next meeting. Furthermore she had to informed the winners beforehand due to the  date of the Civic Awards evening, which they were required to attend and that the new Youth Councillors had only been in office since November 2017.

ACTION: Ashwin, Lisa, Finlay and Marley to attend and report back to the Youth Council. The dress code was formal/smart and was being held at the Marriott Hotel, Waltham Abbey.

Young Essex Assembly

Di advised that the Young Essex Assembly would be attending a future meeting/training of the Youth Council and Jonathan Arundell would advise. The idea would be for both groups to make a short presentation to each other and share experiences.

Big White Wall – Hayley Gillam

Di advised that the Big White Wall offers counselling to support young people in the community and would like to speak with the Youth council to promote their service.

AGREED that Di would confirm dates with Jonathan Arundell and that Hayley Gillam would be invited to attend the Youth Council meeting on 4 April 2017.

Youth Councillors to agreed and adopted the (attached) EFYC Constitution for their Term of Office 2016-2018.

Beckie advised that Constitution set out the rules and protocol for the Youth Council. The Youth Councillors were required to adopt the Constitution for their Term of Office.

AGREED that the Youth Council Constitution (attached) be adopted for their Term of Office, 2016-2018.

Items of business for consideration at future meetings;

·         Transport for young people;

·         Youth Council Conference;

·         Cyber Bullying;

·         Drug & Alcohol Misuse;

·         Stopping cuts to the NHS;

·         Weapons in Schools/Colleges;

·         First Aid Training for young people; and

·         Bullying Awareness

Marley advised that he would like to add Young Carers aged between 10-18, who look after family members.

AGREED that the following items would be considered at future meetings/training events;

·         Transport for young people;

·         Youth Council Conference;

·         Cyber Bullying;

·         Drug & Alcohol Misuse;

·         Stopping cuts to the NHS;

·         Weapons in Schools/Colleges;

·         First Aid Training for young people;

·         Bullying Awareness; and

·         Young Carers (10-18yrs old)

(a)          Notices by Diane;

(b)          Notices by Louis;

(c)          Any other Notices; and

(d)          Youth Councillor Notices.

Notices by Di;

·                     Mental Health training – This was an accredited course and there were 16 spaces available. The training would be intense and require Youth Councillors to present the information back to other peers. Youth Councillors were asked to complete an expression of interest form. The training would take place at North Weald Airfield training room from 8.55 am to 5 pm with lunch provided on Tuesday 14 February 2017.

The following Youth Councillors expressed interest in attending; Lisa, Annabelle, Nina, Zac, Suzannah, Jude, Ashwin, Marley, Belle, Charley, Alex T, Alex H and Raajveer.

·                     Police and Crime Commissioner – There was a public meeting to be held n Thursday 16 February at 6.30-8.30 p.m. in the Council Chamber, Epping.

The following Youth Councillors expressed interest in attending; Jacob, Marley, Jude and Nina.

·                     Loughton Town Civic Celebration – Alex H, Alex T and Jacob had been selected to represent the Youth Council at the Loughton Town Mayor’s Civic Celebration on Sunday 26 February 2017 and present a short reading.

·                     Houses of Parliament – The trip to the Houses of Parliament had been booked for Monday 3 April 2017. There would be two pickups made by the coach at  9.45 am, Epping Sports Centre and 10.15 am, Loughton Tube Station.

·                     Epping Forest Strategy Group – This was a strategy group that meet with organisations and Essex County Council Members to discuss Youth Services in the District. This would take place at Murray Hall, Loughton Youth Centre at 5p.m -7 p.m. on 6 March 2017.

The following Youth Councillors expressed interest in attending; Finlay, Annabelle, Ashwin and Alex T.

Notices by Louis;

·                      Diary Dates – Louis asked Youth Councillors to check the weekly Diary Sheets that are emailed out to Youth Councillors each week, to ensure that everyone was update to date with events.

·                     Motiv8 – This was a dance showcase for age groups 5-18 years old held at Epping Forest College on Monday 27 March and 28 March 2017. The Youth Council had been given 3 tickets for the event.

The following Youth Councillors expressed interest in attending; Annabelle, Regan , Jacob and Oliver.

·                     Instagram Account – Louis advised that this had now been set up for the Youth Council and any images should be sent to him or Di to be uploaded.

Di advised that following the meeting Youth Councillors would be considering their manifestos to consolidate them into three main priorities for 2016-2018.

To note that the next meeting will be held on Tuesday 7 March 2017 at 19.00 – 21.00 at the Civic Offices.

To note that the next meeting would be held on Tuesday 7 March 2017 at 19.00 – 21.00 in the Council Chamber, Civic Offices.