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Youth Mayor Elections Announcement!!
Southend Youth Council will be launching the annual Youth Mayor
Elections in Southend High Street on Saturday the 15th
January to find the next Youth Mayor for 2011/12. The
candidates will begin their campaigning from 10am-4pm and will be
encouraging young people to vote for their next Youth Mayor.
Young people throughout Southend can now cast their votes up until
Wednesday 26th January for the next Youth Mayor and
Deputy Youth Mayor. The results will be announced at the Youth
Council meeting on Wednesday 2nd February, by the
Worshipful the Mayor of Southend, Councillor Ann Holland.
All young people in the borough aged from 13-19 are invited to
attend this meeting from 5pm-7pm at Southend Civic Centre, Victoria
Avenue, Southend.
Last year the voting was opened to a wider audience and a total
of 4,526 young people across Southend voted - 38.2 per cent of
young people aged 13-19 in the Borough.
This ensured that as many young people as possible had the
opportunity to vote for Southend's Youth Mayor and Deputy Youth
Mayor.
The voting is open to young people aged 13-19 and they can vote
in two different ways:
- Via ballot boxes in selected schools and Connexions Youth
Centres
- Email - Email the name of the candidate, date of birth and name
of person casting the vote to youthmayor@southend.gov.uk
Youth Mayor Elections 2011
The Youth Mayor elections will be taking place over a two
week period in January 2011 and will hopefully be launched in
Southend high street on Saturday 15th January where
candidates will begin their campaigning.
The Youth Mayor elections are open to members who have been a
Youth Council member since October 2010 and will need to be
available to carry out the duties of Southend Youth Mayor/Deputy
Youth Mayor from February 2011 to February 2012, which would
include attending official functions, Chairing monthly Youth
Council meetings and leading campaigns. Anyone who is
planning to go to University in September 2011 will not be able to
stand.
Anyone wishing to stand for election will need to write a short
manifesto, of no more than 300 words outlining your plans for the
year ahead. This will need to be submitted by Friday
17th December.
If you are interested in standing for Youth Mayor please let me
know.
If you have any further questions please get in touch.
Thanks, Lucy
Voice and Influence Youth Worker
Southend Young People Celebrate Bus Victory
Southend Youth Council has clinched a dream ticket by prompting
bus operator Arriva to increase the age at which it starts charging
adult fares.
Southend Youth Mayor, Adam Connolly and his Deputy, Alex Bright
spearheaded a successful campaign to persuade the town's main bus
operator, Arriva, to make these changes.
Adam Connolly and Alex Bright wanted Arriva to raise the adult
charging age in the Borough to at least 16. Under-16's were
charged a concessionary children's fare across the whole of
Arriva's Southern Counties operating range - except Southend.
But youngsters in the Borough had to pay start paying adult
fares when they turned 14. The Child fares were only available to
14 and 15-year-olds in the town if they paid £5 for a special
Fairsaver Card.
Southend Youth Council thought this was unfair and launched
their campaign in April asking for Arriva to increase the child
age. An Arriva representative had previously advised the
Youth Council to start a petition to generate further support for
the campaign.
Youth Council members encouraged the town's young people to sign
the petition and a total of 1,533 names were collected. The
petition was formally presented at full Council meeting in August
by Councillor Ian Gilbert, the Council's Youth Champion, and
Councillor Mark Flewitt, the Executive Councillor for Transport and
Planning.
The Council has fully supported the campaign and has also been
in discussions with the bus company.
Arriva has just announced it will be easier for children to get
child-rate tickets on its buses in the Southend, Rochford and
Castle Point area from Wednesday 1st
September.
From that date those aged 14 or 15 will be able to buy
child-rate single, return and period tickets by showing the driver
any recognised form of identity and proof of age such as the Essex
County Council Bite Card or a Citizencard.
This will also apply to 16 year olds until the end of Year
11. Children aged 11, 12 or 13 will no longer need to show
proof of age when buying child-rate tickets unless they look older
than 13, in which case Arriva recommends that they buy a Faresaver
Card which will be valid until they reach the end of Year 11, in
order to avoid any discrepancy when buying their ticket.
Southend Youth Mayor, Adam Connolly says: "This is excellent
news. We gained terrific support from young people in the town, as
well as from the Council, making this a victory for everyone.
"It just shows what can be achieved when people work
together."
Arriva's Publicity Manager, Richard Lewis, said "I am pleased
that we have been able to relax our rules regarding children's
fares, following suggestions from our customers."
Huntingdons Allotment Project Part 1
Jake, Andrew, Becky, Dan, Tracy, Matt
and Chris visited the allotment near Southend Airport. We met at
9:50 at Mcdonalds then walked to the allotment. Firstly we met the
people who are in charge of the allotment and they told us what we
needed to do. We needed to lay the main access path, dig over the
soil ready for planting and clear weeds. We got to work, around 1
we had a tea break where the lovely people supplied us with picnic
and drinks. Some of us then went home but Jake and Matt stayed till
the end laying the path! Finally they left at 4 with the rest of
the people. Thank you everyone for your help and hope to see you in
part two on Friday 4th June.
Huntingdons cheque
presentation
Today Adam, Matt & Jake went to Moose Hall in Leigh
accompanied by Lucy & Jill.
We met at Waitrose, then joined the Huntingdon Disease
Association's meeting. We met lots of sufferers and also people who
are affected by Huntingdons through family members.
We presented the cheque for over £600 to the association and
everyone there was very appreciative of all our work.
Youth Mayor Press Release
Election fever swept through the young
people of Southend as they picked their new Youth Mayor and Deputy
Youth Mayor.
They cast a terrific 4,526 votes during a
hard-fought election campaign which involved all schools in the
borough.
Since the campaign launch on Saturday
16th January, the two candidates also spent a tireless
fortnight sharing their manifestoes with young people at
Connexions Youth Centres &
sessions.
The results were announced at the this
month's Youth Council meeting by the Worshipful the Mayor of
Southend, Councillor Brian Smith, and Mayoress Mrs Lyn
Smith.
Adam Connolly, who won 58 per cent of the
votes, was elected as 2010/2011 Youth Mayor. Adam 17, is
currently studying for his A Levels at Southend High School for
Boys.
Meanwhile, Alex Bright, who won 42 per cent of the votes,
was elected Deputy Youth Mayor. Alex is 16 years old and currently
studying for his A Levels at Southend High Schools for
Girls.
The Worshipful the Mayor of Southend,
Councillor Brian Smith presented the winning duo with their
ceremonial chains of office.
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council's Executive
Councillor for Children and Learning, Councillor Roger Hadley says:
"Congratulations to Adam on being elected Southend Youth Mayor, and
to Alex on being elected Deputy Youth Mayor.
"We wish them every success throughout
their year of office, and hope they thoroughly enjoy this very
special experience.
"By running such energetic election
campaigns they have already more than proved their commitment to
hard work.
"We are very proud of our Youth Council in
Southend, which gives our young people a vital and well-respected
voice. These two key roles at the head of the organisation are
highly prestigious and responsible.
"It is truly excellent that so many young people have
taken the trouble to vote in these elections and are thereby
already realising the great importance of the democratic process.
We hope they will continue to vote in every possible local and
national election as soon as they are eligible."