Case studies "Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council: Youth Engagement (Local Democracy) Pack"

Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council: Youth Engagement (Local Democracy) Pack

Summary of activity

 A pack that includes a workshop plan for young people, including activities to explore opinion and to give information regarding the democratic process.

Aims and objectives of the activity

1. To develop a local democracy pack for working with young people.

2. To provide young people with information regarding local democracy.

3. To discuss democracy issues with young people.

4. To introduce democratic principles to young people.

5. To be inclusive for all young people with a focus on young people aged 16-18.

6. To give relevant information to run a mock election.

7. To make the workshop fun.

Description of activity

To encourage young people (16-18) to become actively involved in the democratic process it was felt that it was important to reinforce certain key concepts. 

Following discussion with a local youth group a pack was developed   which included a workshop plan and relevant activities.  Some of the activities were taken from the Democracy Cookbook, whilst others have been developed internally.

What went well?

The young people seemed to enjoy the activities and became actively involved in standing for, and participating in, the mock election.  The  pilot scheme also allowed Electoral Services officers to fine tune the workshop and activities.

What didnt go so well?

The initial timings for conducting the various activities of the workshop were a little inaccurate during the pilot.  These have now been adjusted accordingly.

How was the activity evaluated?

Discussions were held with the Youth Leader following both the workshop and election.  An evaluation form will be part of the final pack.

To what extent were the aims and objectives achieved?

1. Using the information and experience gathered during the pilot, we are currently working on the pack taking into account all lessons learnt.

2. As we have tried to make the activities as participatory as possible, it is hoped that information regarding local democracy will be retained by the young people.

3. The first activity is aimed at provoking debate amongst the young people.  It is also used as a gauge to ascertain the level of knowledge within the group.

4. The activities introduce democratic principles to the young people through the use of participatory techniques.

5. By targeting the workshop at youth groups, it is hoped to also capture young people who may miss out on democracy and citizenship work in school / college.  The idea of focussing on 16-18 year olds is to ensure that they have all the information they may require prior to reaching the voting age.

6. As we are also developing a mock election pack for youth groups, this will help them run their own mock elections.

7. As we have concentrated on ensuring the workshop is as participatory as possible it is hoped that the young people will find the event fun as well as informative. This was definitely the case in regards to the pilot scheme.

Timeline

1-2 weeks preparation

Overall budget

Printing Costs - £100                     

Staff Time - In Kind contribution

Number of people working on the activity