Stockton Youth Assembly Meeting Tuesday 11th September 2007, 6pm – 8pm, Stockton Town Hall Present : Nick Butler (NB), Chair, Stockton Youth Assembly Michael Hollifield (MH), Vice Chair, Stockton Youth Assembly Becki Fox (BF), Secretary, Stockton Youth Assembly, & UKYP Adam McIntyre (AM), Stockton Youth Assembly Anna Christie (AC), Stockton Youth Assembly Alice Newsham (AN), Stockton Youth Assembly Becki Davis (BD), Stockton Youth Assembly David Moulder (DM), Stockton Youth Assembly James Gobie (JG), Stockton Youth Assembly Kay Thompson (KT), Stockton Youth Assembly Laura Humphreys (LH), Stockton Youth Assembly Lauren Stephens (LS), Stockton Youth Assembly Michael Johnson (MJ), Stockton Youth Assembly & Arrogant One Nikki Wallace (NW), Stockton Youth Assembly Zoë Harding (ZH), Stockton Youth Assembly John Tierney (JT), Citizenship and Democracy Officer, SBC Jeannie (J), Youth Worker Chris Haine (CH), Green Party Visitor Haleem Ghafour (HG), Stockton Renaissance Kelly Smith (KS), Stockton Renaissance Tom Pitt (TP), Pretentious Thespians Jennie Brown, Stockton Youth Assembly & UKYP Rachel Naqui, Treasurer, Stockton Youth Assembly Amy Tebbs, Stockton Youth Assembly Andrew Teasdale, Stockton Youth Assembly Ben Chapman, Stockton Youth Assembly Connor Knowles, Stockton Youth Assembly Lizzy Shearer, Stockton Youth Assembly Emma Carr, Apprentice Youth Worker Eleanor Bakes, Apprentice Youth Worker Millie, Volunteer
Apologies :
Acti on NB opened the meeting and welcomed all members and visitors. 1. Minutes of the Last Meeting NB read through the minutes from the last meeting to the assembly. 2. Visitor Haleem Ghafour NB handed the meeting over to the visitor Haleem (HG); HG introduced himself, and thanked the group for attending a meeting with his group earlier this year at the consultation event which looked at a document called: “Generations to come,” . HG then explained that the Document from that meeting has changed its name to: “Shaping Stockton’s Future”. He then asked the group to ask themselves what they thought of the document and also to think if the document has been adapted to how they suggested earlier this year, and if their suggestions have been reflected in the improved document. HG then handed around copies of the document for the SYA members to look at.
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HG then said that the team he works for has produced a sheet with a summary of all of the following themes: Children and young people, Economic regeneration, Transport, Environment and neighbourhoods, Healthier communities and adults, Housing, Safer communities, Arts and culture, Community cohesion and Older people. HG explained to the SYA that this summary summarised all of the topics what came out of the earlier meeting and what has been done by his team to act upon the topics found. HG then asked the group what they thought of the document, and if they feel that what they said earlier in the year is reflected in this document. HG then asked the group what they thought should be done and needs improving immediately in the next three years in the borough. HG then explained that his tem were having another event at the Destiny Centre on Wednesday the19th September, 9am-12 noon to go over and reflect in more detail on the document: “Shaping Stockton’s future”, and he explained that they would be looking at another document called: “The compact”, looking at the relationship between the public sector and voluntary sector. HG then invited the SYA members to the event and said that they are very welcome to come along and that their input is very valid. NB then asked if there were any responses to the two questions HG asked. BF then asked due to the document being bulky can she take it away to read. HG agreed and said that yes the members are welcome to take the document to read and look at in their own time; however he then explained that there is a deadline which is the 30th of September as the final document needs to be taken to the Stockton Renaissance in October. HG then explained that if the SYA members whished to contact him then they had to see JT for his email address. MH then asked if any one is able to go to the event at the Destiny Centre. HG then replied yes as long as they let the event holders know that they are going. JT suggested to HG to have a full day where young people can actually be there as the whole document seems to be around getting adults involved and at the moment it creates a bias towards people as the event is taking place during school and college time. Therefore if it were in young people’s time then more young people would go. HG then asked the SYA members what they thought about having an event suitable for a young person’s time. Most of the SYA members agreed to this idea as they felt that it is hard to get to the event due to it being in school and college time. HG said that he would take this point away to his team and see what he could do about getting the times changed for future events to suit young people rather than adults because it is young peoples views that his team wants. HG HG then thanked the group for letting him attend the meeting, he also said that when the final copy of the “Shaping Stockton’s future”, document is completed he will get copies to the SYA members. The SYA members then thanked HG for attending their meeting.
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The Green Party. NB then introduced the next speaker which was Chris Haine, (CH), from the Green Party. CH introduced himself to the SYA group, and said to them that he is the Co-ordinator for the Green Party in the North East of England. He then explained about the Green Party and that they are the youngest political party in England. He also said that the Green Party do not get much publicity although they have been around for 30 years. CH then explained to the group about the “Manifesto for a sustainable future” which is their “bible” and contains all of the beliefs of the Green Party and what they do. CH then read to the group an extract from a book called “The Ragged Trouser Palantropist”, which was written in the 19 hundreds. This extract explained a story about the main character Owen. CH then claimed to the SYA members about how our species could be coming to the end, and that the Green Party is always asked about “Doom and Gloom” subjects, he then explained that everything we do now effects our future and that by 2020 there may be no oil left that people can afford. CH then went on to say that the Green Party want to work with young people and need to work with young people, that are involved in their local communities and they believe on talking and listening to people on the ground and want young people to become their future Green leaders. He then handed out a Young Greens Newsletter to the group, and he explained that he wants to set up some young green groups to make the country a better country for us to live in. CH then asked the group what they knew about the Green Party and politics. The SYA members then had a discussion about politics and that the voting age should be decreased to 16 years old and that the age to be an MP should also be lowered so that a young person can become an MP. Some members also said that politics is hard to understand. DM then said that he never actually knew about the other policies what the Green Party has and that he has only ever heard about the environment policy. CH then said that this is because the Green Party never gets into power; however by coming to groups like the Youth Assembly they can get recognised. LS then suggested about modernising the party so that other members will say they should trust the Green Party. CH then said that there is campaign within the party at the moment to get an elected leader, so that they can talk against other parties because at the moment the Green Party does not have an actual leader it has a female and male speaker. CH then asked the group if they thought that professional politicians are good at listening. AC replied with the answer of “no”. The group then got into a decision about why they thought that politicians did not make good listeners, some of these reasons are: They talk to each other when they ask for your opinion, They don’t take young people seriously, When they talk they expect us to listen but they don’t. Hard to understand as its not young person friendly terms what get used. Events are on at times when they are not accessible to young people. CH then asked the SYA members if they thought that climate change actually existed, and there were mixed answers of both yes and no; he also said that when he has asked people if they though climate change was real and that 1 in 2 people that he asked didn’t believe in it. He then told the group that climate change is real and that other politicians don’t take it seriously apart from the Green Party. NB then asked if there were any more questions for CGP.
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DM then asked in the political spectrum where the Green Party is. CH then explained where the Green Party were on the hard left as they believe in common ownership of public transport, but he thinks that politics are changing. CH then asked the SYA members that if they accepted that there was such a thing as climate change, would they go looking for a pressure group for example Green Piece or Friends of the Earth to make a difference in our society and our culture, or do they think it should be down to a political party? The SYA replied that they thought it would be a political party. CH then explained to the group that there are actually more young people signed up to things like the Green Piece, Friends of the Earth and the Woodland Trust; which all have millions of members where as the political parties hardly have any members at all. CH then said thank you to the SYA members for listening to him. The SYA members then thanked CH for attending their meeting. 4. Pretentious Thespians. NB then introduced then next guest speaker, Tom Pitt, (TP), from Pretentious Thespians and told the SYA members that TP used to also be a SYA member in the past. TP told the SYA members about the group which he set up called Pretentious Thespians. He also said that his group aims to build confidence and that the group does lots and lots of productions within theatre. The people involved, participate in either acting, writing scripts, completing backgrounds, stage sets and working backstage, they scripts are also adapted to the participants to allow them to build up peoples confidence. TP then explained to the group that Pretentious Thespians is not like other theatre groups as it is not set up like a school and that a young person simply participates in an act and then they are built up from that stage. He also explained to the SYA that to help the productions of his theatre group there is a west end play write; Graham Farrow, and they do recruit professional actresses, they also have a lady called Sarah that does rakki, and they also have people that have been in hammer dramatics for a long time. TP then explained to the SYA members that his theatre group has the backing from Stockton Youth Service, through the SYA and Grangefield Youth and community centre where rehearsals take place. TP then aid to the members that rehearsals are built around the participants as he appreciates that young people have lives, go to college/school and some have jobs so what Pretentious Thespians do is they try to work around the young people involved, he then went on to say that the rehearsals are on a Wednesday evening and Saturday all day, and that the young people are placed in these groups depending on if they want to be in front of the stage or behind stage. He also explained that it is usually 3-5 people working with a professional at one time, to ensure that the young people get all then help they need and are built up accordingly to their ability. TP also said that when they do productions that they do them in the professional theatre like the Arc, rather than schools and youth centres. He also said that the participants build up an artistic portfolio whilst they are apart of the Pretentious Thespians so that they have a record for they future. TP then asked if there were any questions. NB reminded TP that he had some information regarding the SYA and Friday night. TP then said that on Friday 14th September and Friday 21st September the SYA members can go to the Pretentious Thespians around 5:30 and 6pm in Stockton Library to ask any questions that they may have and to let them know more in detail about the Pretentious Thespians group and that this is a free event. BF then asked if it was open any other night. TP then replied that they are trying to work around having other open nights however there is the Wednesday evening and the Saturday day time that he motioned earlier. TP then said that Pretentious Thespians is open to people that are aged 13 -19 years, he also said that there are all different types of people that go to the group and they all have their own character personalities. TP then said that there is a small cost to attend due to the fact that Pretentious
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Thespians is private and it is not government funded. However the first 60 days are free, but after these 60 days it costs £20 per person per month. He then motioned the two Friday nights and said that they were free and that the SYA members are welcome to take their friends and family along to meet the Pretentious Thespians team. NB then asked TP if he would like his theatre group mentioning on the PIC network so that other young people get to know about it. TP replied yes and Allison Davis’s number was passed on to TP. TP then asked if any one was interested that he would take down their name and number to let them know about things which are going on within his group. TP then asked the SYA members if they had any questions or queries that they wished him to answer. There were no questions and queries. TP then asked the members if they would inform other people in the groups which they attend about Pretentious Thespians. TP then thanked the SYA for listening and the SYA thanked TP. 5. Children’s Trust Board MH got the group’s attention and passed over to NB. NB then told the group that the next Children’s Trust Board meeting would be Thursday 13th September in Central library Stockton, and that the members who wanted to go would be meeting between 4:30 and 5pm. NB then informed the group that Mark Telford and Peter Sellers would be there who are important people and have a role within the youth service. JT then told the SYA members more about the children’s Trust Board meeting, and that the board is made up of all different people who make decisions about young peoples lives and that SYA members will have a chance of asking questions. BF took a list of names down of who was going to attend the Children’s Trust Board meeting. JT then explained to the group that he would meet the members outside the library between 4:30 and 5pm and that the meeting finished at 6:30pm. 6. Climate Change Presentation NB explained to the group that on Friday 12th of October the group have been asked to go to Newcastle to make and show a presentation on climate change. JT then explained to the SYA members that the 12th of October is during local democracy week, and that local Government North East have set a theme of environment and that they have asked youth groups and schools to go up to Government North East and complete a presentation on what they think of climate change. MH then asked why it has got to be in Newcastle, and JT replied that Newcastle is seen as the centre of the North East by Government North East. NB then asked the SYA members if anyone wanted to make the presentation and then wanted to go to Newcastle to present it to Government North East. The following people volunteered: Alice Newsham (AN) David Moulder (DM) Michael Hollifield (MH) Zoë Harding (ZH) JT said that he will organise transport for those that wan to go. 7. Make Space Development Fund NB said that at the last meeting JT was telling them about the make space development fund. NB then informed the group that in the Stockton Central Library, there is a large lecture theatre, which has air conditioning, tea and coffee and you are allowed to eat your food in there, and it is also open until 9:30pm. The library has also said that we are allowed to decorate the room to how we want it. JT then said they SYA can put posters up and make a graffiti wall, he then went on to say that it also has facilities which we can use for example a DVD player, PCs and comfy seating.
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NB then asked the SYA what they thought about moving there meeting to the library instead of having them in the town hall. There was then a big discussion about what people thought of the town hall facility, and it was agreed that the library is more of what the group needs as it is young person friendly and it also has facilities which the town hall does not and they would be a help to the SYA. The whole of the SYA agreed that they wanted to move out of the town hall. NB then explained to the group that they would not be able to move into the library until November unless they looked at changed the day of the evening meeting. He then explained that the Sunday meetings would still take place at Elmwood Youth and Community Centre. MH then asked the SYA members what they thought of moving to the library, and they all agreed that this would be a great idea and action to do. There were mixed feelings of whether to go immediately to the library or whether to go in November. 8. Application to Youth Bank NB handed the meeting over to MH and then asked the Youth Bank members to leave the room. BF then immediately asked everyone to sit down and asked why the Youth Bank members had to go out of the meeting, when they are the ones which are going to look at the application forms and read the minutes. JG then explained to the SYA members why the YB members had to go outside so that they did not influence the SYA members when they are completing the application. There was a discussion about whether or not the YB members should leave the room; the result was that the YB members did leave the room. The members which left the room where; NB, KT and BD. MH then said to the SYA members that they have received the main application form to fill in to send to Youth Bank. MH then asked BF for the main application; however she had left this at home. MH then asked BF to make sure she brings the application form to the next meeting. MH then discussed what the application was for and some of the suggestions which were given at the previous meeting were: A cinema night for young people with free admission, An open mic night, (comedy night), A Stockton’s got talent. MH then went on to say that DM had volunteered to look into the promotion aspect of the event, he then as DM if he had brought this information but DM had not brought it to the meeting and asked him to bring this with him to the next meeting. MH then said that Gary Davis had volunteered to enquire about the Georgian Theatre; however Gary was not at this meeting so the SYA members do not know what has been done on that subject. MH then said that JT had volunteered to enquire about the Showcase cinema. JT replied that he had done this enquiry, and that they will be happy to accommodate the SYA if they had the funding to do it. He then said that they could use the big cinema and negotiate which film that would be shown. MH then said that the people who have volunteered to complete things for the application are to complete them and then get the information to BF. JT then said that they volunteers could do this by email so that it speeds the process of the application up. MH then asked if any one had a way of contacting Gary Davis and if they did then he asked them if they could possibly contact him about the Georgian Theatre. JT agreed that he would do this. JT then said that there would not be a problem with using the Georgian Theatre as another group; Arrogant One is using it to put on an event on the 26th October. JT then went on to say that he has good links with the Georgian Theatre and asked the SYA if they wanted him to make enquiries. There was no reply from the SYA members on this subject. JT was taken out of the meeting. MH then said to the SYA members that in the previous meeting there was a suggestion
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that they would sell tickets for the event apart from if it was the cinema night, and by selling the tickets it would help to make it sustainable so that the SYA doesn’t have to keep applying for funding. MH then asked if the members where happy with that idea and the reply to this suggestion was yes, therefore there will be a small charge for people to attend these events. MH then said that in the previous meeting it was suggested that the timing for this event should be during the weekend so more young people can attend it. TP then said that he had an idea that he uses but the SYA are welcome to use it too, and this was the idea that when doing the event they could ask mobile companies or fast food chains or Middlesbrough Football Club if they wanted to advertise themselves as they are willing to pay money to advertise during your event as they know that your event is aimed at young people. TP advised the SYA members that the way to do this is to write off to the companies and badger them for a few days and most will agree to this advertising offer or may even sponsor the event. TP then sad that it may be a good idea to see if you can get a signed football from Middlesbrough Football Club and put on a raffles as that will bring in money. TP then went on to say that other companies what the SYA could look into are for example the Evening Gazette the Tees radio station and airports. MH then went over some more suggestions which were made at the previous meeting about the event. For example: getting a chocolate fountain, a sports day, doing the Rocky Horror show, film night, a coast to coast camp for charity, SYA doing a sponsored moon walk down the high street, parmo eating contest, hiring a mechanical bull. MH then said that that was the end of the suggestions from the last meeting and asked if anyone else had any more suggestions. There were no more suggestions so the SYA members waited for the YB members to come back into the meeting along with JT. The following members NB, KT, BD and JT all came back into the room. 9. YEA, (Youth Environmental Activists) trip to London NB introduced MH to feed back about the YEA London trip. MH then told the SYA members why YEA went to London, and this was to find out what plants attracted moths and butterflies so that they gained the knowledge for when the YEA complete their garden in Preston Park. MH then said that the trip went really well and that the found out the information which they needed to and that everyone who went enjoyed it and that they all had fun. He also said that they learnt more about what plants to put into their garden at Preston Park and why they should put them in. MH then went onto say that from Kew Gardens the YEA members got lots of ideas of not only plants but sculptures that they could contain with in their garden at the park. MH then said that whilst they were at London they stayed on HMS Belfast on the river Thames. NB then asked JT if he wanted to say anything about the YEA trip. JT replied that he was not happy about being pulled up by the Youth Bank members earlier in this meeting when he was taken out of the room. NB asked JT not to mention it; however JT said that he would mention it as it was about the YEA and YEA members were in the room. NB then said to JT that he had got the money and then an argument was started. MH then asked if he could know what it was about as he is a YEA member. NB then said to MH that it is not the time and place. MH replied that he was not happy with the way what NB was handling the situation as the YEA members have the right to know what was said. NB then started another argument with MH, and MH said that he has the right to know what was said. However the meeting was moved on by the chair NB. 10. Youth Action North East NB told the SYA members that Claire from Youth Action North East wished to come along to talk to the SYA members on the 6th of November, (Tuesday meeting). He then explained that Youth Action North East is what used to be NERYA, (North East Regional Youth Assembly). MH then explained to the group what Youth Action North East actually is and that they have set up numerous campaigns about issues what young people are involved in and that
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one of the major issues is transport for young people. JT then explained that the whole point of the Youth Action North East was to get more young people involved in active things and making changes in their communities regions and nations. 11. UKYP NB then informed the SYA that the UKYP are holding an Autumn Campaign event at the British History Museum (London), on Wednesday 10th October 10am-4:30pm. NB then read out the program for that event, including many debates. JT then said that there are only 9 places for the North East, he then said that the UKYP’s have first choice. The people who wanted to go gave their names to BF and BF is to email them to JT. 12. A.O.B MH brought up the point that he had the right to know what was said when JT got taken out of the meeting by youth bank. NB replied and said that, the subject was not any other business. Another argument broke out in the meeting. Maureen Rigg has sent an email about the skate park proposals. Saying that they Egglescliffe ward councillors are eager to get a skate park in Preston Park, and that they would like to meet up with the SYA and Arrogant One as they have heard that both groups have done a lot of work around this subject. NB then asked the SYA members if they agreed with Maureen Rigg and that the three groups should meet. The SYA members agreed to ask Maureen Rigg to ask the next meeting. AN was to get in touch with Maureen Rigg. Spooky Halloween Walk, - 6pm-9pm at Preston Park. The SYA members have been asked to be volunteers to dress up as monsters and ghouls on Halloween this year. JT wants the people who have volunteered to send their dress sizes to him so that he can organise hiring costumes. The issue of transport is going to be raised with Preston Park. Youth Debate, MTLC (Middlesbrough Teaching and Learning Centre) – have invited the SYA members to attend a youth debate, to find out whether young people are being designed out of regeneration and community. This debate will take place on Thursday 20th September 6pm -9pm at MTLC.
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Date, Time and Venue of Next Meeting The next meeting will be held on Sunday 30th September 2007, from 1pm - 3pm at Elmwood Youth and Community Centre, Hartburn.
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