Helen Harley, Derry City Council, Cllr Patricia Logue (Youth Champion), Mayor Martin Reilly, Cllr Brenda Stevenson (Youth Champion), Cllr April Garfield-Kidd (Youth Champion), Martin Dunne (vice chair of Foyle Youth Council) with Foyle Youth Council and WELB Youth Officers. Photo: Lorcan Doherty Photography.
Members of the Foyle Youth Council got the chance to elect their “Youth Champions” when they attended a “Get to Know Your Councillors” event at Derry’s Guildhall.
Councillors Brenda Stevenson, April Garfield-Kidd and Patricia Logue were all elected to the Youth Council after a question-and-answer session in which issues affecting the young people in the city were raised and discussed at great length, providing the elected representatives the opportunity to hear first hand the issues that affect the youth in the city.
The Foyle Youth Council is an initiative that has been set up by Derry City Council and the Western Education Library Board to give young people greater opportunities to have a say in the city in which they live and to provide a voice and advocate for the rights and opinions of young people, with an ultimate aim of influencing positive change to benefit all young people within the city.
It also provides them with a forum to have an input and be part of the decision making process.
Derry Mayor, Cllr Martin Reilly, who hosted the event, said the role of the “Youth Champion” was to act as a mentor to Youth Council members in order to raise the profile of local democracy.
He added: “It was great that this event was successful in nominating Youth Champions to the Youth Council.”
Helen Harley, Derry City Councils Children and Young People’s Officer, who helped organise the event said it was a “great opportunity” for young people to access those who made the decisions and to further cement the relationship between the Youth Council and elected members.
She added: “The Foyle Youth Council has been running since 1998 and aims to be a voice for young people and a place where young people feel valued and part of something.”
She concluded: “With the dedication from a number of organisations including WELB and Derry City Council we can work towards realising the issues that matter most to young people.”
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