On the 31st August the Welwyn Hatfield Youth Council got to attend and run a stall at Herts Pride. We arrived early at 10:00am to set up everything and make sure we were prepared for the busy day ahead!
Our stall was a game called guess the flag which informed people about different identities within the LGBTQ+ community. The aim of the game was to match each definition with its corresponding flag. If anyone didn’t know what a flag meant, we would explain to them in order to educate people about the vast community!
On our stall, we got to promote our Youth Council as well as inform people on what we do. We asked people if they lived in Welwyn or Hatfield and if they had heard about our Youth Council. There seemed to be quite a lot of interest so fingers crossed we will gain a few new members from the event! So, our stall was a great way of advertising our Youth Council as well as raising awareness and helping people understand more about LGBTQ+!
It was the most wonderful day and it felt amazing to be there for the community!
On the 16th July the Youth Council were extremely privileged to go to The Houses of Parliament. We met early in the morning to catch a train into London! When we arrived at Westminster, we were lucky enough to have a tour where we learnt a lot about the history of politics and how it’s changed over time. We even got to see the house of lords and ask questions about how debates run in this room!
After the tour, we met Grant Chapps, our local MP and he made us feel very welcome. We had a session with him in which we got to ask him questions which linked in with our priorities. Not only did he give us excellent, interesting answers, he asked us for our opinion too! This made us feel very important and professional as he cared about what we thought on the matters. The questions were on the environment, antisocial behaviour, LGBTQ+, young carers, youth democracy and mental health. We try to address these things at the youth council weekly so it was really interesting to get a politicians insight!
The trip really opened our minds to future careers and opportunities. it was an incredible experience we’ll never forget!
It is that time again and Year 11’s from all over the country have started their GCSE’s!
Exams, pressure and making sure we do well in our GCSE’s often puts a huge amount of pressure on us young people. Some people find it really difficult and struggle to deal with this pressure and stress. In the Welwyn Garden City town centre, the Natural Health shop is offering support and advice to anyone who needs it.
The Youth Council wishes you a HUGE good luck anyone taking their GCSE’s at the moment. This can be a really stressful time for everyone so make sure you get plenty of rest before any exam. It is important to keep drinking and eating well in order to have a ready, healthy mind in the exam room.
Even though this can be a challenging time, try not to put too much pressure on yourself. Try your best; that’s all anyone can ask!
Mural created by Maria, the Welwyn Hatfield Youth Council and children in WGC. We wrote down pledges of things we will do to help save the environment.
Welwyn Hatfield Youth Council made an appearance at the Welwyn Garden City Environment Day in April. Two of the members took to the spotlight shortly after Greenpeace speaker (Lisa Thompson) to deliver a short speech about why the environment has become one of their recent priorities.
Jasmine’s Transcript on Sea Pollution:
“In 2016, 9 out of 10 people agreed it is important for politicians to take care of wildlife and the environment. Also in 2016 a survey revealed that two thirds of people aged 16-34 think the environment is a top voting priority for them. As a Youth Council It is so vital that we promote protecting our environment because we believe as people living on the earth it is our responsibility to conserve the environment we’re living in. Changes in temperature from increased energy consumption can seriously affect our health due to a rise of greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere. Polluted air can irritate people with asthmas and cause long term lung problems for future generations. Additionally greenhouse gasses have slashed holes in the ozone layer. This is the outer layer of gasses which protect the earth from the suns heat. And this broken o-zone layer leads to a dangerously high risk exposure to the sun. This means people are at a higher risk of skin cancer, cataracts and sunburn. Plastic also is a massive issue for our environment. This toxic material has made its way into fragile ecosystems such as our oceans, breaking down into non-biodegradable micro-plastics which if consumed by animals is fatal. If we all are to slow to make these changes in our lives to cut out day to day activities which involve being unsustainable we will make this world inhabitable. ” – Jasmine (Youth Councillor)
Nehal/Laura’s Transcript:
“We have been with the Welwyn Hatfield Youth Council for a year and we have only recently taken on the Environment and Climate Change as a priority. This is because only now realising how important it is to look after our planet. As a youth council, and as a young person, we share a growing concern that we are ruining our future planet due to the inactions of the previous generations. As a youth council we plan to campaign, talk and share the word about our changing environment in hope that people, young and old, will realise that we can’t keep going on as we are. I personally think that every single person in this world needs to play an equal part in saving the environment as it will impact us – young people, the most. If we all agree to make small changes in our day to day life we can really make a big difference. If we all work together we can change the world for good, and it’s not too late. With the encouragement and support of more and more people we can make this possible. The scientists are ringing the alarms about climate change, and so are we. If anyone would like to know more about how to join the youth council please come talk to me or another youth councillor in a purple top. Thanks for listening. ” Nehal & Laura (Youth Councillors)
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