Six district youth forums thriving

Oldham Youth Council

It’s not just the Youth Council who are making a difference and having a voice in Oldham.

We have now established six District Youth Forums in Chadderton, east Oldham, West Oldham, Saddleworth and Lees, Failsworth and Hollinwood and Royton, Shaw and Crompton.

These youth forums are managed by integrated youth services in partnership with a range of voluntary, faith and community sector youth groups.

The forums also link into the Youth Council so we can ensure that we are working together.

The Youth Forums aim to enable young people to have the opportunity to shape and influence services for young people in their local areas and boy have they been busy – they have been on training residentials to hone their skills as youth representatives, organised music festivals, made recruitment DVDs, planned community events and been involved in numerous meetings with elected members and senior council officers.

There are over 60 young people currently involved in the youth forums – sharing their opinions on a massive range of issues from littering to street lighting, from policing to youth facilities. At the recent youth voice event is was refreshing to see that the main concerns of young people in the districts are not so different from those shared by adults.

Young people are concerned about the appearance of their local communities, about street crime and community safety, about road safety and traffic management and about improving facilities for young people.

Throughout the next year the youth forums will be working hard with a range of adults including members of their communities to look at positive solutions to some of these concerns.

If you are aged 11 – 21 and would like to get involved in your district youth forum we will put you in touch with the forum working in your community. – E-mail Jodie.barber@oldham.gov.uk