Ben Howard (Deputy MYP) and I have been busy this month, working towards our priorities and (allegedly!) revising for our exams. We are learning how to balance our political commitments with our school work and it is important that we continue to develop this skill so that we can give the best of ourselves when we need to.

We have had two meetings this past month with Officers from the Borough of Poole. We discussed ideas on how we can implement our priorities and how we can support complementary initiatives already in place.

We also completed a monitoring survey outlining the work we have done since our election. This is so that UK Youth Parliament can create a newsletter for MPs and councillors telling them about all the work we have all been doing. It is great to be able to promote our work in this way as its gets the attention of decision makers. We will update this survey on a monthly basis from now on.

A few weeks ago, Ben and I took part in the Mayor’s Debate which the Borough of Poole hold annually. It’s a fantastic opportunity for young people to formally debate a number of important issues in front of an audience consisting of the Mayor, Councillors, senior council employees and a group of voting young people. It was a great evening, full of lively debate.

Finally, I was lucky enough to be selected to join the Sounds Positive Steering Group. Sounds Positive is a South West regional project that helps young people with their media image. The Steering Group, which includes a number of young people, will be meeting soon to discuss, amongst other things, youth awards and a possible Sounds Positive website.