Fiona visited Holmes Chapel Youth Council at their first AGM at Homes Chapel Community Centre. During the meeting Fiona invited the Council to visit Parliament’s Education Centre which she said now has excellent facilities to inspire young people who want to understand more about how democracy works and engage in it.
Speaking after the meeting Fiona said
“I was really impressed with the progress made by the Holmes Chapel Youth Council, bearing in mind they were only set up as such a few months ago, including working on plans for a youth shelter; environmental improvements, the launching of the Holmes Chapel Youth Cinema with its first screening in early October, and with Dane Sound getting their messages out to the local community. I look forward to supporting them going forward. I pay tribute to the Holmes Chapel Pariah Council for the clear support their members have given to setting up a youth council in Holmes Chapel.”
Cllr David Savage told the Council members at the meeting
“You should be very proud of what you’ve achieved; thank you on behalf of the Parish Council. Now is the time for you to set your own agendas. We want you to tell us what Holmes Chapel wants.”
He advised young people interested in being involved
“You can talk all you want but at the end of the day you’ve got to listen and we at the Parish Council want to listen to you; negative things happened because of misunderstandings.”
The new Chair is Bella Mac and the Vice Chair is Theodore Castle; there are now 12 members on the youth council with one new member being elected this term and all 11 previous members serving again for next year. The village will see more action towards increasing facilities for young people following a Youth Council being formed at the beginning of 2019. They have been active in raising their concerns for a good quality of life for the younger generation. The Youth Council wishes to find more social space for young people and will soon be hosting a regular youth cinema. The council expect this to be a regular event that will help tackle social isolation amongst young people and create a community feel. The Youth Council offers the youth of Holmes Chapel the opportunity to raise their voices over relevant issues and become change-makers in their community and the next meeting is on Monday 21st October.