Mental health and transport services were two of the main concerns for a group of young people on Anglesey after they took part in series of activities to learn about the work of the National Assembly for Wales.
Ten 16-25 year olds, supported by homelessness charity Digartref on Ynys Môn have been working with the Assembly’s Education and Youth Engagement team as a part of their Community Voice project which led up to the Assembly election on 5 May 2016.
As part of the project the group:
- Took part in Wales 2016 election workshop;
- Held a mock election;
- Attended the polling station on Election Day as a group; and
- Took part in two full-workshops at the National Assembly in Cardiff.
The series of activities was conducted with the aim of educating the young people about the National Assembly for Wales by also empowering them to have their voices heard and to make decisions.
Rhun ap Iorwerth, Assembly Member for Ynys Môn, visited the group in April and also welcomed the group to the Senedd, where an energised question and answer session was held.
“Having received a warm welcome from Digartref when I visited them in Holyhead in April, I was glad to have the opportunity to welcome them to the National Assembly in Cardiff this week,” said Rhun.
“I had an interesting chat with the group about the Assembly and about their Brexit fears amongst other things, and I was pleased to hear that they had all voted in the recent Assembly election although I didn’t ask for who!”
Discussions and activities led to the young people developing skills and knowledge about the National Assembly for Wales and about the Assembly Members that represent them.
Following the visit to the National Assembly for Wales, Izzy, a young person from Digartref said:
“The workshops were great fun overall but meeting one of the members of the Welsh Assembly was my highlight from the whole project. It shows them how you feel about the Welsh government and how it can improve.”
Similarly Maisie, who is also a young person at Digartref said:
“I have learnt how the meetings run in the Senedd and I have learnt that you only need 10 signatures to start a petition.
“It was good that we got to meet Rhun ap Iorwerth again, after he visited us at the Enterprise Centre in Holyhead, and it was better because we met him in more of his territory.”
Kate White who works for Digartref as the Community Voice worker also enjoyed the visit:
“Overall I think the trip was a fantastic experience for everybody, including the staff. In the build up to the Assembly elections in May it was really exciting to see how engaged the young people at Digartref became in politics.
“We were lucky enough to not only have the sessions to learn more about the Assembly and the election but we also had the opportunity to meet several of the election candidates including Rhun ap Iorwerth and for the young people to ask the questions that were most important to them.
“Visiting the Senedd this week was really exciting because it made all of us realise that we still have the opportunity to ask those questions and we do have an opportunity to have our voices heard. I hope we can come again!”
For further information follow us on Twitter/Facebook @YourAssembly or visit our dedicated website for young people www.yourassembly.org.