DERRY City and Strabane District Council have engaged with over 10,000 local young people ahead of their final bid submission yesterday to become the European Youth Capital for 2016.
The city and district will vie for the prestigious continental title with Amiens in France, Manchester, Novi Sad in Serbia and the Italian city of Perugia, after being successfully shortlisted last April.
Over 100 youth organisations have been consulted and engaged with through a variety of projects to ensure the bid is fully representative of their needs and views.
Their feedback has been used to develop a new website in support of the bid, www.eyc19.com and speaking at its launch this week, Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Director of Legacy Oonagh McGillion, expressed her delight at how local young people have taken ownership of the bid.
“Our youth have been at the heart of this process and over the past months several thousand of them from across the Council area have been involved in developing and shaping our EYC19 Programme,” she said.
“This engagement included a weekly meeting with a core group of young people who signed up as EYC champions as well as focus workshops and a schools/colleges roadshow and the positive results of those initiatives are evident on the new website.
“The enthusiasm and leadership has they have shown throughout the process has allowed them to take ownership of the bid and, regardless of the outcome, Council is committed to progress on the key issues raised by young people during this process.”
Elected Council representatives gave the final bid submission a ringing endorsement at a meeting of the Governance and Strategic Planning Committee this week and Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Alderman Hilary McClintock, praised everyone involved in the project to date.
“I would like to congratulate everyone involved in the bid for preparing such a comprehensive final submission for this prestigious title,” she said.
“The new ideas and innovative projects proposed have been developed in direct consultation with our young people who have been at the heart of the process.
“We have a young and vibrant population in this region, they are our future, and this title would help put them on the international map and have a genuinely positive impact on their futures.”
The European Youth Capital bid people aged between 15-24 living or working in the Council area.
If successful the Derry Strabane bid would result in a year-long focus in 2019 on events, programmes and initiatives that will benefit young people in the city and district.
The winner of the title will be announced at the European Youth Forum’s Council of Members meeting on Wednesday November 16th.
More details on Derry City and Strabane District Council’s EYC bid is available on www.eyc19.com or by e-mailing [email protected].
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