Youth Council

Who is the Doncaster Youth Council?

The Doncaster Youth Council was first launched in 2003 The structure is made up of young people from the age of 15-19 who represents the neighbourhood where they live; this amounts to 60+ young people. There are also places for 2 representatives from the Voluntary sector, Looked After Young People, BME Forum and LDD Forum. The young people would represent their neighbourhood for 2years.

The young people go through the democratic process for election. Young people are nominated by their peers, and elections take place in the 17 secondary schools. This year the election was held in National Youth Work Week, from the 2nd to the 6th November, which is the start of the process.

In 2009 31 young people were elected, with existing members this makes a total of 40 Youth councillors.

The group meets twice weekly at Elmfield House where they make key decisions and meet with a variety of organisations and groups to discuss issues, and are consulted on changes to be made with services working with children and young people.

The structure in Doncaster is based on the neighbourhood model. With Neighbourhood and Area Forums which, feed into the main Youth Council meeting. Information is then taken back through the system in the same manner.

The Youth Council set up the Youth Bank (Youth Opportunity Fund) that is Government funded, the Youth Bank panel which, is made up of young people, who approve funding applications from other young people from youth projects for activities and equipment.

In 2007 the group came up with a set of key priorities and these have continued to be addressed.

1. To increase the number of young people participating in the Youth Council. Having young people represent their neighbourhood, instead of 2 representatives form each school did this.

2. To improve safety of young people. This is an ongoing issue that is raised regularly at Neighbourhood Forums and relayed back to the Mansion House.

3. To improve transport for young people. This is an ongoing concern and has been raised with local transport providers and also taken to Parliament to our local MPs.

4. To improve relations between young people and the wider community. We try to do this through positive publicity of what the group are doing; working alongside SNT and the Police to build relationships this is ongoing.

This year the group have worked alongside Doncaster PCT in the re-wording of the Alcohol Strategy and making a DVD, also with Healthy Futures to produce a DVD. They have been in consultation with BSF (Building Schools for the Future), South Yorkshire Police, and Yorkshire Planning Aid on the Waste Development Plan for Doncaster. Sexual Health Services, and also work on the Anti-bullying Policy.

How can I get involved in the Youth Council?

The Youth Council elections are held every year from October to November. Youth Councillors can be co-opted to represent their neighbourhood during the year. If you are interested for more information contact The Youth Council at:

Doncaster Youth Council
Elmfield House,
South Parade
Doncaster
DN1 2EH
01302 862493
youth.council@doncaster.gov.uk