North East Regional Voice & Leadership Network for Young People: Planning Event

The North East has a rich history of innovative, effective youth participation and leadership where young people have made a significant contribution to decision making at a local, regional and national level. Young People are currently involved in a wide range of projects and initiatives across the region from Local Youth Opportunity Fund Panels to Young Inspectors Programmes, Regional Youth Advisory Board to the 14 – 19 Commission to UK Youth Parliament to name a small example.

There has never been a better time to look at how we can coordinate a representative regional voice for young people building on the past and current experience of youth participation and leadership within the region.

The proposal is to bring together young people through the creation of the Regional Voice & Leadership Network enabling them to share experiences, ideas, actions and opportunities.

The aim of the network is to:

1.   Coordinate participation and youth leadership work in the region and create a structure that young people feel gives them a representative voice at a regional level.
2.   A forum that they feel they can take their issues to in the knowledge that they will be listened to.
3.   An opportunity to work together with other young people and adults to resolve issues they have identified as regional priorities.

To ensure young people are at the heart of the network we are holding an event on:

Tuesday 16th February 2010
Darlington Football Club
11am – 3:30pm

The aim of the event is to kick start the regional network and an opportunity to run ideas passed young people to enable them to express their own views on how this could work for them.
We are currently consulting with young people to see what they would like to see on the day and we will be working with them to provide a range of fun interactive workshops. Click here for online consultation.

Following the event we will be creating opportunities for the young people to work together to take forward their own identified issues.

To launch Network, young people will plan an event for March 2010, followed by a huge celebration event in March 2011 to recognise young people’s achievements.

We have limited transport for projects/young people living in the north of the region, please indicate in registration if you would like a place. There is also a chance for participation projects to showcase their work (contact Selina or Caroline on 0191 440 4410).