Freedom road for Youth reps
The group of teenagers who represent young people in Nottingham on the city’s Youth Council have been given free bus travel. Nottingham City Transport has provided the two Youth MPs and 27 Youth Councillors with bus passes giving them 104 days travel a year to carry out their work around the city.
This year the Youth Council is particularly concerned with crime, community and personal safety, sexual health of young people, more leisure and youth activities and more opportunities for training.
Youth Council members meet every three weeks at the Council House and in between take part in Youth Action groups, Area Committee meetings and forums to provide a youth perspective on issues under discussions. They sit on Connexions Local Management Committee and are part of the City Council’s Youth Service Executive Board helping to set priorities, policies and budgets.
Young people across the City elected the Youth MPs during joint elections earlier this year that also voted in the Youth Council for Nottingham. A total of 67 candidates stood for election and 4,160 young people voted.
Scott Stansfield, (16), Chair of this month’s Youth Council meeting, said:
“The Easyrider Anytime cards donated to the Youth Council is a great example of how organisations and businesses are encouraging the involvement of young people. We are very grateful for this contribution.”
Councillor Leon Unczur, Nottingham City Council’s Executive Board member for Culture, Community Services and Tourism, said:
“Our Youth MPs and Youth Councillors undertake really valuable work putting forward the views and aspirations of Nottingham’s young people and influencing decisions so that the needs of young people are reflected.
“The bus passes will make a huge difference to them in terms of cost and convenience and we are most grateful to Nottingham City Transport for recognising the importance of the work of the young people in this way and for their generous gesture.”
Nicola Tidy, Marketing and Communications Manager for Nottingham City Transport, said the bus passes was one way the company could show their appreciation of the amount of time and effort put in by Youth Councillors and Youth MPs.
She added:
“NCT see this as an ideal opportunity to see first hand some of the issues that public transport operator’s encounter whilst transporting young people around the city. We hope that this will create a two-way dialogue to ensure our buses are increasingly used at all times by young people in a safe and sensible manner.”
For further information please contact:
Norma Smith
Promotion and Marketing
Performance and Strategy Group
Nottingham City Council
Burton Street
Nottingham NG1 4BT
Tel: 0115 915 4681.
