UK Youth Parliament
Meet your UKYP representative - Matthew Wilson
Matthew recently became the UKYP representative for the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. He is very keen to find out the issues that matter most to the young people in this area. You can contact Matthew by email: matthewmyp@hotmail.co.uk
During local democracy week, Democratic Services and the Integrated Youth Service
worked with the Borough's Youth MP, Matthew Wilson, to encourage our young people to make their mark and get their voices heard by getting involved in the 'Make your Mark' campaign.
The UK Youth Parliament (UKYP)
- is run by young people (aged 11 -18) for young people (aged 11-18);
- has over 600 members representing young people across the United Kingdom;
- the local UKYP representative for the Borough of Stockton is Matthew Wilson;
- main aim of UKYP is to enable young people to use their energy and passion to change the world for the better;
- has become a powerful voice over the last ten years, which is heard and listened to by local and national government, providers of services for young people and other agencies who have an interest in the views and needs of young people;
- runs lots of campaigns on issues put forward by young people like you;
- chooses one campaign to be the main focus for the whole year. That is the reason for the 'Make your Mark' campaign.
The 'Make your Mark' campaign
Matthew attended a number of events, youth groups and youth clubs to encourage our young people to get their voices heard by getting involved in the UKYP's national 'Make your Mark' campaign.
The campaign offered young people the opportunity to vote for the issues that matter the most to them from a list. (It was available online and in hard copy). Over 300 young people from our Borough took part. When the voting closed on 16th October 2011, the top five national issues of concern were:
- Make public transport cheaper, better and accessible for all;
- No to tuition fees, yes to graduate tax;
- Zero tolerance towards bullying in schools;
- End child poverty; and
- A Greener future for Britain
Over 65,000 young people took part in the ballot, with over 300,000 votes cast. This was over a 1000% increase on the 2010 ballot - showing the depth of interest and passion among young people in the UK today.
On 4th November 2011, members of the UK YP met in the House of Commons to debate and decide which of the top five issues would become their core campaign for the following year. Matthew was also there and took part in the lively debate.
In the end the issue chosen to be the Youth Parliament's priority national campaign for
the coming year was:
'Make public transport cheaper, better and accessible for all'
The UKYP has produced some campaign resources which can be downloaded from their website. They are planning to ask the public to support the campaign by signing an online petition to get the Government and MPs sit up and take notice.
UK Youth Parliament
