Youth Council
The Lambeth Youth Council is run by young people for young people and exists to:
- Highlight issues of concern to young people
- Allow young people to influence policies that affect them
- Make a difference by initiating special projects
- Train young people to make a positive effect in their communities
The London Borough of Lambeth Youth Mayor and UK Youth Parliament representative will help young people shape their services and promote the views of the young people of Lambeth.
Current initiatives include:
Teenage pregnancy
Youth Council members are designing lesson plans from a young person's perspective to best convey the appropriate messages to reduce teenage pregnancy rates. These sessions are led by Youth Council Peer Educators in secondary schools and youth groups across Lambeth.
Stop and Search
Members are developing materials and workshops to train police officers how to talk to young people properly when conducting stops and searches.
Peer Inspection
Youth Council Peer Inspectors visit youth centres in all five Town Centre Areas to see if they are run the way young people want them to be. A report and action plan are produced in conjunction with Youth and Play Managers and Peer Inspectors revisit the youth centres at an agreed time to make sure recommendations have been implemented.
Youth Forums
Work has begun to extend the youth voice network across the borough by establishing a youth forum in every Town Centre Area. Young people in youth forums will be trained as video consultants to access the views of local young people and feed their opinions into relevant decision-making bodies.
Members also lead or take part in a wide range of consultations on youth issues and are developing links with many local policy bodies, including Lambeth First, Scrutiny and the Executive.
All activities are led by Youth Council members themselves and focus on the need to improve services for young people in the borough. Members are given the appropriate support and training to achieve their goals.
Apart from the projects listed above, general Youth Council meetings take place once a week in Brixton Town Hall. Anyone aged between 11 and 24 is welcome and no experience is necessary.
Contact the Youth Council on 020 7926 2193, or email youthcouncilsecretary@lambeth.gov.uk for more information.