By Isle of Wight Observer
Young people from across the Island gathered in Newport on Saturday (January 31) to share their views on issues affecting their lives.
Organised by community youth groups, the event at Castlehold Baptist Church in the High Street brought together 11 to 25-year-olds to discuss key themes including health and well-being, education and work, “Out and about” and “Your place”.
At lunchtime, a range of organisations and businesses hosted stalls explaining how they support young people on the Isle of Wight.
The event forms part of ongoing work to ensure young people’s voices are heard. Community youth providers including the IW Youth Trust, SWAY, Network Ryde, Ventnor Youth, Brading Youth, The Bay Youth Project and Revive will now take the topics back to their groups before compiling findings from the day. These will be used to help influence strategies and policies affecting young people.
Ashley Whitaker, strategic director of children’s services at IW Council, opened the event. He said: “I thought it was an excellent event and I’m hugely grateful for everything everyone did to make it happen. I look forward to receiving the findings from the event in due course. The views and opinions of our young people really do matter.”
Graham Biss, chairman of the Community Youth Providers Group, added: “It was great to see the energy and enthusiasm of all the young people attending, tackling the issues and concerns which they encounter on a day-to-day basis. We are fortunate to have some brilliant youth groups and young people on the Island.”