To receive an overview of Charlotte’s democracy journey.
Minutes:
Councillor T. Sharrem joined the meeting at this juncture.
Charlotte Clarke, outgoing Youth Mayor provided the following overview of her democracy journey to date:
Charlotte commenced by stating that she had had an amazing time through the course of the last two years, which included her time as Deputy Youth Mayor. Charlotte’s journey began when she was in a very different stage of her life, primary school. She had always been academically ambitious, priding herself over roles she had accomplished, such as head girl, prefect and becoming a member of the school council. She had been thrilled during Year 6 when she had been offered the opportunity to attend the Children’s Grand Council – an event that combined children from across the borough which provided inspiration and innovation and taught independent thinking. At this event, children would participate in tasks such as writing, drawing, and playing fun games, all activities linked to relevant issues of the day. A personal highlight for Charlotte had been the workshop on becoming environmentally friendly. Last year, Charlotte was afforded the opportunity to visit the Children’s Grand Council in her capacity as Youth Mayor. This made her really appreciate to the full capacity how wonderful this event was. From her perspective she could really understand and appreciate how captivating and simulating it was for young minds; which explained why she had previously enjoyed it so much.
In the summer of that year, Charlotte had received a letter which explained a poem she had written at the Children's Grand Council had been chosen to be put on a plaque at Bryn Bach Parc. This gave Charlotte a great sense of pride because this had been one of her first major accomplishments. She thoroughly cherished the memory of the unveiling, with support from her parents, grandparents, and aunty. At this event she was then invited to become a member of the Blaenau Gwent Youth Forum, which she had initially declined. This was due to her new lack of confidence, entering secondary school was a hard transition for most pupils, and she felt anxious and doubtful of her capabilities. Nevertheless, with persistence from many supportive figures in her life she decided to join and was delighted in hindsight that she had corrected her decision because this choice had been the catapult to everything else. Whilst Charlotte still identified with that scared, shaky Year 7 girl and still struggled with being anxious, this frightful attitude had only been natured by the Forum. From the reassurance and support the Forum had given her, she was no longer a scared, Year 7 girl but a 15-year old, who felt confident in setting aside her anxieties in order to strive towards her goals.
Upon attending the Youth Forum for the first time, Youth Mayor elections were immediately taking place and she had decided to run for the two-year position as Deputy and Youth Mayor. Whilst extremely hesitant to believe she had a chance of winning due to lack of experience and lack of relationship with the other forum members, she stood for election with the motive of it enhancing her chances the following year. Nevertheless, she was astonished to be voted into the position and set her priority for her year as deputy: period equity. This proved to be a successful and worthy priority, she had got to meet amazing like-minded people and improve period facilities for everyone. This was something she was extremely passionate about and still was. Anyone who endured a period should have the access to the necessary sanitary products without it interrupting their education and social life and certainly without leaving them financially struggling. Charlotte continued by stating that she was enthusiastic about the changes that have taken place since she had set this priority, for example, the luxury tax being abolished in many places. Over her term as Deputy Youth Mayor she had also worked with the Youth Mayor on her priority: LBGTQ+ rights, alongside the Forum’s main priority of mental health.
The following year Charlotte was elected Youth Mayor at an extraordinary inauguration. This was set in Cardiff, with her inauguration at the Cardiff Council Chambers followed by an enjoyable visit to Winter Wonderland. Her priority for this year was focusing on mental health and particularly, body image. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 overtaking the world Charlotte did
not manage to achieve her desired outcome for this priority but still
recognised the importance of body image within young people and how it could dominate someone's mental health. Hence this was the reason why she had continued to work on this priority, even though not in her role as Youth Mayor. She had made this the face of projects at school, actively campaigned for it amongst her peers, and contributed to body image workshops. The highlight of her year as Youth Mayor was attending the celebration of children's rights in Cardiff in which she had participated in amazing discussions and activities and had been enthralled by some brilliant speakers.
However, Covid-19 had not managed to ruin everything. This year Charlotte was delighted to still be able to participate in her role as member of Youth Parliament for Blaenau Gwent. Her motion that was created alongside three other Youth Parliament Members was ‘Better Mental Health Education for Pupils and Better Training for Staff’. She had thoroughly enjoyed working on this motion and the process that came with this. Since the annual conference in September, she had loved working to ensure young people’s voices in Wales were amplified to the highly important extent they were worth. She had played an active role as Youth Parliament Member for Blaenau Gwent and had attended regular meetings with other Welsh Youth Parliament Members during this time.
Charlotte stated that this concluded her journey so far in the briefest way that she was able describe such a magnificent experience. The events attended, people who she had conversed with and opportunities she had been given, had all helped shape the person talking to Council today. With a huge sense of admiration, she shared these experiences. Whilst unsure what the future held, currently Charlotte was focused on studying in hope of achieving great GCSEs, aiming for fluent A’s and A*s. Past that college was her next step, preparing herself for a career she had not yet decided on and beyond that, she hoped to go to university. Whatever, the path she decided to take, Charlotte was confident that it was her work here that had concreted the traits that were needed to pursue it.
Charlotte concluded by thanking Council for taking the time to listen and said that she hoped she had provided a compelling account of the outstanding work undertaken by the youth of Blaenau Gwent.
Members commended Charlotte on her truly inspirational journey to date and expressed their best wishes to her for the future.