27/10/08: Featuring local bands 'Student', 'Suicide Dollz', 'The Empires', 'Its Not Me Its You', 'Bring The Thunder' & more..
On Wednesday 11th February, Louis Rynsard and Alex Urqhart went to a Mentoring Conference in Ipswich to represent the Youth Council. The conference was attended by many school pupils of various ages. These pupils have had mentoring training and were already as part of the ABC training and support team. The theme of the conference was prejudice which most people only associate with racism and genocide.
The point that Steve Wooldridge aimed to put across was that prejudige can be taken against anybody and for any reason. We were given a performance by a very good actor who played the role of a young black boy who had moved to a new school.
We saw his charachter develop from being a 10 year old boy who was very exitable and didn’t seem to understand the racist jokes that were made against him; to a 15 year old - popular but very lonely; to a 21 year old who had lost his girlfriend, dropped out of university and stopped communication with his mother.
The performance was a very moving and strongly put across the message that simple teasing can lead to something very serious. After a tea break everyone was split into age groups where they would talk to the actor still in role of the age they would be mentoring. We had a chance to experiment with different types of questions and styles of helping someone in the characters situation. The confence was a huge success and everyone gained new ideas and tactics when it came to mentoring. I think it helped me to understand more about prejudice and to develop my confidence in talking to other people in a mentoring situation.
On Thursday 19th February the Youth Council ran an acoustic gig in collaboration with the Youth Opportunities Fund. The event was to celebrate all of the projects, including UV Bury, that they had funded over the last year. The gig was a huge success, with free entry and food; a relaxed atmosphere; a chance for people to network; and great acoustic music.
The whole night has been recorded and CDs are coming soon. If you would like a CD and have not already filled in a form, or would like to give any feedback, then please contact molly@bseyouthcouncil.co.uk. We would like to thank everyone involved, especially the Borough Offices for their help and support, and Youth Opportunities Fund for kindly funding the evening. Pictures and videos coming soon!
On the 9th January the BSEYC ran a big band gig in the corn exchange. It featured performances from local bands: A Fear most Fatal, Ascendia and Head Full. It also showcased the talents of Lol Trix, the Dreaded Juggler, DJ Sebadee and fire breathers. The theme was UV and the venue was decorated accordingly. Everyone was given a free white t-shirt and glow sticks were on sale. The night was a huge success and everyone enjoyed themselves. The event was funded by the Youth Opportunities Fund and kindly sponsored by CEG Theatre Services.
In December three of our youth council members attended a meeting to discuss the naming of a new venue in Bury St Edmunds. The venue is part of the new Arc development, though it will open later than the shops. We found the meeting very interesting and were pleased to have our views heard. We each contributed 20 possible names, and look forward to hearing from the borough council for the shortlist.
On 20th November the Bury St Edmunds Youth Council sent two representatives to London to be present at the annual CRAE conference. CRAE is the Children’s Rights Alliance for England and campaign for children’s rights. The Youth Council felt that attending this meeting would help to develop their political influence and make us more than just be event organisers.
There were a variety of well known renowned people there, including Professor Sir Al Aynsley-Green, who is the Children’s Commissioner for England. He was the second speaker in the conference, and he made a strong point about the use of mosquitoes. The mosquito is a small device which emits a high pitched noise that only people under the age of 20 can hear. This device is attached to buildings, and is used to prevent young people from loitering in that area. It is sadly is becoming more commonly used in shopping malls, and even on the sides of houses. Aynsley-Green described this as just as bad as racism or sexism as it only affects certain people and assumes that all young people are up to no good.
Other speakers included the ‘Get Ready for Change!’ group, which is a project run by children and young people. They check to see if the government is protecting children’s rights to the best of its ability, and if not then they work hard to achieve change. They were speaking about their last campaign ‘Get Ready for Geneva’, and how they interviewed children around the country, getting their opinions on how they feel they are treated in this society. For more information on the ‘Get Ready for Change’ group then go to http://www.getreadyforchange.org.uk/.
I really enjoyed the day and I found it very educational and insightful.
By Tom Inniss
On the 27th October the youth council organised and ran the second gig in the Access All Areas series. The gig was held in Bar Ambition and included performances from Student, The Empires, Suicide Dollz, Bring the Thunder and It’s not me It’s you. We are pleased to report that the event was a huge success.