HYPER in 2015

HYPER has now been growing steadily in 2014, but, in 2015 the young people want to make a difference! We have many things in the pipeline:

Mental Health Awareness

This year the UKYP (UK Youth Parliament) will be focusing on Mental Health issues in young people, this is one of the reasons that we have chosen to focus on this. Many teenagers are affected by mental health yet their is little awareness. We plan to increase this awareness among young people in Horsham by producing an informative leaflet to sign post the services that young people can use to get help. This would be a starting point to make much needed progress.

Young people at HYPER have already been targeting this by taking part in the FYM (Free Your Mind) group, through this group they managed to create a day that educate d young people and professionals on the issue. The group is continuing and is hoping to be even more influential this year! The HYPER group also just donated money to selfharm.co.uk.

Democracy for Young People in Horsham

This year their will be elections for both the UK Youth Parliament and the West Susses Youth Cabinet. These elections are being hosted in Horsham at both Tanbridge House School and Millais School. These will allow young people to choose a representative for themselves. 

There are two candidates for the West Sussex Youth Cabinet seat for Horsham East from Millais School. One member of the youth council, Dominic Marks, is also standing, he goes to Tanbridge House School. He will also be standing for the Horsham East seat and also the UK Youth Parliament Seat for Horsham & Mid-Sussex.

The elections happen during March with the results being posted on the 1st of April. Good luck to all candidates!

Information on how to vote will follow soon.

This year looks to be good for HYPER and they all can't wait to make a difference.

Join the Sussex Youth Commission and have your say on policing and crime

Recruitment has now opened for 14-25 year olds from Sussex who have an interest in joining the Sussex Youth Commission (SYC) in 2015-16.

Building on the success of the 2014 pilot project, the PCC in partnership with the SHM Foundation, wants to give up to 30 young people from across the county an opportunity to have a voice on policing and crime.

Commenting on the recruitment launch, Mrs Bourne said: “I am delighted that I am able to offer another group of young people a unique opportunity to get involved in the issues that matter most to them.

“The SYC enables young people to become part of the solution to tackling crime in their area, rather than being seen as part of the problem. I would encourage as many young people as possible to apply.”

Chiz, Nwaosu, 21, a member of the Sussex Youth Commission said: “I got involved with the Youth Commission as I felt it was a good platform for young people to voice their opinions about policing, which is an issue that can affect their lives. I really enjoyed the experience, especially meeting a wide range of people and getting a behind the scenes look at police work.

Rose Dowling, Director of Learning and Citizenship, SHM Foundation said:”This is an excellent opportunity for young people to develop their skills and gain hands-on experience working on a project which will make a real difference. We are proactively seeking applications from young people with a wide range of life experiences, as we want the Youth Commission to reflect a really diverse range of perspectives.”

It's the Drink Talking Megaphone Event

This week two of our representatives went to the megaphone event on alcohol. During the day we took part in many different sessions that showed how alcohol can seem attractive to young people.

Talks from other young councils showed us the projects that have targeted the problem before, they all targeted the problem well, we are going to bring this up at the next meeting to see if HYPER would like to start a smiler project. What do you think that we can do? How do you experience alcohol in your life as a young person? If you could answer one of the questions then use the contact form at the side of the page.

Today we went to the #megaphone event. Thanks @drink_talking for a great day. It was a real eye opener for us.
— Horsham YouthCouncil (@Horsham_Youth) October 29, 2014

Youth Commission On Police & Crime Visit

At the first HYPER meeting of the new year we were joined by young people from the Youth Commission On Police & Crime for Sussex. It has been a year long trial project to find out young peoples opinions on six main issues. These issues included Abuse, Bullying and Cyber-Bullying, Drug and Alcohol Crime, Reducing Offending and Re-Offending among Young People, The Relationship with Police and Stereotyping and Supporting Young Victims and Witnesses.

Over the hour long meeting we touched on each of these issues and talked about how they effect our local area and also our ideas on how to address the issues.

The Youth Commission are trying to collect 2,000 young peoples opinion on the issues. You can also contribute your opinions by filling out this survey. They will evaluate the information given and try and make a difference for young people.

Their year long project will be coming to an end on the sixteenth of September with a conference in Brighton. It is important for young people to contribute to this so that in the future we can target these issues better.