Agenda and minutes

Sydnae welcomed Youth Councillors and Officers to the meeting, she also introduced Paarth Patel as the Vice Chair for this evening’s meeting who is filling in for Matthew Carter as he was unable to attend this evening’s meeting.

Apologies of absence.

Di Butler, Falak Hussain, Martin Prinsloo.

Vanessa and Di have spoken to Jo O’Boyle the Chief Executive of Citizen Advice regarding information around the Cost-of-Living Crisis and would like to make the 2022/23 Youth Council’s project around this subject; how we can make the young people in our communities aware of the importance of this subject and what they can do to help and raise awareness.

Vanessa brought to the Youth Councillors attention the idea of Budget Training and how to make people more aware of being scammed online via apps which may be linked to parent’s payment details. Vanessa asked the Youth Councillors what they thought of the idea and if any changes are being made in their households due to the Cost-of-Living Crisis and the affect this will have on families.

The Youth Councillors shared how some schools are unable to supply certain stationary due to cutting back on costs.

The heating in schools may not be turned on and students will be expected to wear jumpers instead to keep warm. The Aircon has not be turned off in certain schools to also try and save money.

Youth Councillors also thought it would be helpful to educate students on the importance of unnecessary spending on small items that you may not really need and creating awareness of how important it is at home to make sure you are switching your devices off properly. For example, switching your TV off rather than leaving it on standby can make a big difference to your household spending.

Vanessa would also like Youth Councillors to have a think about what the Project could be called, Olu suggested Repair My Pocket. To be confirmed at the next Youth Council meeting.

Suki informed members of the Youth Council how the evening was great, she had lots of fun, the venue was amazing, and the host was friendly.

Paarth thought the evening was vibrant and filled with lots of energy the host was funny and was also interesting to see other award winners.

William brought to the officers attention how at future events it would be nice for Youth Councillors to wear their own clothes rather than all turning up in the Youth Council polo’s, as he noticed people at the venue had casual clothes on. Vanessa to take this on board for future award evenings.

William thought that Lambourne End was a lot of fun and an easy environment and an all-around great event. The event had lots of activities where people could face some of their fears.

Suki added how it was nice for Jamie McIver, a previous Youth Councillor to come to the event and speak about his personal experience and how being a Youth Councillor made such a big impact on him and other people around him. He also spoke about how being part of the Youth Council opened so many doors of opportunity for him and how to not put so much pressure on yourself at a young age.

Olu shared her thoughts with members of the meeting and how she felt that the visit was an eye-opening experience and good to see the political side of things and have that physical interaction. Other Youth Councillors felt the visit is essential as you gain so much knowledge and it’s interesting to see the paintings around the building.

Suki shared her thoughts on the visit to the Supreme Court of which she found the history very interesting, especially the artwork of the four woman who had made such an impact on society, very inspiring for young woman in the Youth Council.

Paarth shared how he thought it was very interesting to see how the Supreme Court has developed throughout time.

Too conclude this discussion the Chair Sydnae hopes that in the future Youth Councillor’s who have not visited the Supreme Court will be able to visit and for the Youth Councillors who have visited will hopefully be able to visit again as she also enjoyed the experience a lot.

The Independent Advisory Group is run by people from the Local Community, people representing certain groups and Police Officers attend to discuss problems within our community; things that have also happened in the past and in the future going forward how we deal with these problems.

Sarah informed members of the meeting how this was the first meeting for this group, and she felt as though it was a good meeting with everyone and an all-round good experience to attend.

Erica informed the group on the volunteer work she has been doing recently. A BBQ was held last month for homeless people and veterans and a free school uniform event in aid of the Cost-of-Living crisis.

Vanessa then asked the Youth Councillors how they felt about pre-loved clothing at schools and whether members of the group feel as though there is a stigma around wearing pre-loved clothes.

Youth Councillors shared how some of their schools do offer pre-loved uniform to students at school, however it may not be very well known within the school, and it can be a hard process of getting hold of the uniform.

Vanessa would like Youth Councillors to have a think about what they could do to help with this stigma around wearing pre-loved clothes and how to make young people feel comfortable and not embarrassed especially with the Cost-of-Living crisis having such a wide effect on families at home. This may now be the case for so many more young people than ever before and with winter coming this could change things as some young people may not have any choice.

Action: Youth Councillors to report to Di & Katie regarding this subject and how to raise awareness.

Sarah shared how the Ninefields Residents Association is now set up on Instagram and in the process of being able to share posts from Facebook onto Instagram. There will be a further meeting for this project to move forward.

During the Summer, a Science Camp was held as part of EFDC’s children’s programme of activities. Sarah shared her thoughts with members of the group and how she noticed one of the children had additional needs meaning they didn’t engage with the activities so well. She would like to see all children being able to get involved in all activities and found that the experience was good and enjoyed helping everyone out.

Vanessa also visited the Science Camp and informed members of the group how this was not something that usually happens. The parent had got confused because the child usually attends the Inclusion project activities.

The Vice Chairman of the Council also attended this summer activity and thanked the Youth Councillors for all their help.

Update from schools - All Youth Councillors

Braeside

Chigwell

Davenant

Debden Park

Epping St Johns

Ilford County

King Harold

New City College

Roding Valley

The Ongar Academy

West Hatch

Paarth (Ilford County) – Moved from County High School to Davenant Six Form.

Sarah (King Harold) – 4/5 New Teachers, to update Youth Councillors next time.

William (Chigwell) – New Headmaster, Mr King and Uniform has also changed there is now no gender specific pronouns. Girls and Boys can now wear what they want, and parents are not expected to buy new uniform straight away.

Sophie (Braeside) – Option to now wear Trousers and the Uniform colours have now changed from Brown to Black, new Uniform for the whole of Braeside. There is also a Uniform shortage, and, on the website, Trousers were unavailable for Girls until the end of the Summer Holiday and were not recommended for the girls to wear.

Scarlett (King Harold) – New Staff and a lot of Staff have now moved to SLT.

The Safe Well & Secure event is an event run by the Fire Service and Police with support from EFDC. The last event was in Ninefields, Waltham Abbey where they went door-knocking to make sure homes are safe, offering advice and information. It is free to install a fire alarm so this can be carried out if necessary. Youth Councillors felt as though this was a good service and worthwhile event.

Katie:

Henry and Erika’s Ipad’s have been fixed and will be given back at the next Youth Councill meeting.

Wipe Out Event – Still awaiting confirmation from Izellah, Sophia, Suki and Sydnae’s parents which Katie does need as soon as possible.

Katie to chase up Suki’s Ipad charger.

Katie would also like to remind Youth Councillors to please respond on the WhatsApp Group chat as she has noticed some messages are being read and ignored. If any Youth Councillors cannot make meetings, please try, and give at least 24-48 hours’ notice.

Action: Vanessa to send pictures to Katie and Di of King Harold Art Project and the Artwork which has gone up.

Vanessa asked Youth Councillors if they had ever heard of WAY 2000 (Waltham Abbey Youth 2000) which is a Youth Group held in Waltham Abbey and none of the Youth Councillors have heard of this. Sarah thought it would be good to mention at King Harold School for students living in Waltham Abbey.

Oscar R informed the group how a lot of students from Epping St Johns go to The BOX which Vanessa had heard of.

Sarah let Vanessa know had the staff member at King Harold who used to keep in contact with the Youth Council has now left and there is now no one in place to keep in contact and up to date with what is going on. Vanessa to look into this and something put in place.