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.

Sparks In The Park 2014

On the 13^th of July HYPER will be raising money for the next year. We will be offering many activities including a beer goggles course and guess the weight of the sweets and a cake. We will be in the rotary charity section so come over and see us as we need lots of people to come. Let’s hope for sun!

HYPER Training Day

Recently HYPER took part in a training day to help the members better represent those within the community. We learnt how the council system works and therefore who we can lobby to to make a change in our community. At the end the two groups had to make a campaign to promote an issue. Below you can see the videos from the campaigns.

What is HYPER?

HYPER (Horsham’s Young Peoples Empowered Representatives) is a Youth Council where young people meet regularly to share issues which affect them in the Community. Working together, we try to make a change and positive impact on the lives of young people within the Horsham community. There are currently 14 members, but more people are joining each month. We would welcome more members, so that we can progress and get involved with more projects for young people. Although our title is Horsham Youth Council, we are not directly involved with Horsham District Council, but come under the umbrella of HTCP (Horsham Town and Community Partnership), which means that we are mostly self-funded and all adult workers are volunteers and have help from Community Youth Work (CYW).

                                             

Over the past year we have been very busy doing lots of work such as raising money for charities that benefit young people and investigating issues such as lighting in the park. We feel strongly that young people need to have a voice in their community and that their opinions need to be heard with regard to such issues which affect our daily lives. It was arranged that someone from Horsham District Council came to speak to us to explain their side of the argument with regard to more lighting in the Park, and it was during this meeting that we realised that it was not just a yes or no decision.  The problems of wildlife and cost were discussed which gave us more understanding of both sides of the argument.  After hearing both sides, we are hoping to come up with a solution which meets with the agreement of all parties.

We have meetings every 2 weeks where we will target various issues and share our opinions. However it is not all about meetings, as recently we had a training day where we all learnt about the work of the Parish, District and County Councils, and how to be better representatives. Through HYPER you can see the world of youth politics and can learn how the political system works. You can also move onto more youth councils like the West Sussex Youth Cabinet and the Youth Parliament. I myself, through HYPER, have been able to speak with many decision makers such as MPs and Councillors.

Have you ever thought that something needs to be changed for young people? Well maybe you should join HYPER. If you are interested please use our contact form on the home page.

Dominic

Member of HYPER